Draymond Green Reportedly Shuts Down Warriors From Acquiring Major Star
Oct 24, 2025
The Golden State Warriors have been the biggest dynasty of the modern NBA, and while the roster is aging, with the likes of Draymond Green and Steph Curry still going strong, hopes are high for one last NBA Championship run.
In 2024–25, the team traded for Jimmy Butler, going 24–7 in the 31 games that Butler played since arriving, showing that it was clearly the right move for the team to make. With the blend of youth and experience on this team, it's clear that the Warriors will be a contending team in 2025–26, but according to reports, there was another move they tried to make a year ago.
The connection between the Warriors and Lauri Markkanen has long been known, but before the team tried to make a deal, Draymond Green reportedly urged the team to stay away from the sharpshooting Jazz forward.
According to ESPN's Anthony Slater, Green noted that teams don't usually win trades against Danny Ainge, and to give up all he was asking for, Markkanen just wasn't the move to make in Green's eyes.
"I'm a big fan of Markkanen's game. But I think if you want to do something so huge, you better be certain that this is the move. You usually don't win those things against Danny Ainge. I look at history."
Ultimately, we'll never know whether the move to land Markkanen would have been the right one or not for Golden State, but with Butler now in that slot, it's clear that the team is happy with the way things ended up going.
