Draymond Green and the Warriors had hoped to land star forward Paul George in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers.
After days of negotiations and multiple offers that Golden State reportedly felt confident were good enough to land the nine-time NBA All-Star, Los Angeles ultimately balked at trading George, resulting in the 34-year-old opting out of his contract and testing free agency, where he eventually agreed to sign a five-year, $204 million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Warriors and the Clippers both were left empty-handed.
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Green, on the latest episode of "The Draymond Green Show" podcast, discussed the Warriors' attempt to trade for George and expressed his frustration with how Los Angeles handled the negotiations when George reportedly wanted to play for Golden State.
"A little salty about that, because as you all know, Paul George was going to come to the Warriors and we wanted Paul George to come to the Warriors," Green said. "We always talk about these organizations, what they do for their players and whatnot. For us to get Paul George it would have taken a sign-and-trade, and the Clippers didn't really want to play ball, didn't really want to help him get to where he wanted to go.
"And so in turn they get nothing back, whereas you could have gotten something back for Paul George walking, they get absolutely nothing back. These organizations don't always be willing to play ball, and I don't think the Clippers were really willing to play ball for Paul George to get to the Warriors."
At the end of the day, Green -- while he doesn't like the outcome -- understands why the Clippers weren't keen on trading their biggest start to a Pacific Division rival.
Golden State Warriors
"I kind of understand it I suppose, you don't want him in the same division as you because you may know how that looks if he comes with us," Green added. "So that didn't quite pan out for us, which would have been nice. Would have been really nice. But yeah, they'll lose Paul George for nothing and that also sucked, because I think what Paul George could have done if he did come to the Dubs would have been amazing. But nonetheless not going to cry over spilled milk."
The Warriors since have agreed to sign guard De'Anthony Melton, forward Kyle Anderson, and currently are working through a potential sign-and-trade deal for guard Buddy Hield. Golden State also might be the frontrunner to land Utah Jazz star forward Lauri Markkanen.
While they didn't land their top target, the Warriors still have a chance to recover nicely.