Mike Dunleavy denies putting Draymond Green in trade talks - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — Golden State Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy denied that Draymond Green was in active trade conversations in advance of this week's deadline despite the team's pursuit of Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

«I'd walk that back,» Dunleavy said. «His name was not in conversations other than the ones where teams called me to ask about him. The idea that he stayed with the Warriors past the deadline was greatly exaggerated. It was never a possibility of him not being here or remotely close. I've conveyed that to him.»

To make a trade for Antetokounmpo work for salary match purposes, the Warriors would've needed to put either Green or Jimmy Butler III in the deal. Dunleavy was asked whether that meant he would've instead traded Butler for Antetokounmpo.

«You're putting words in my mouth,» Dunleavy said. «No, no, no. We're not doing that. I'm not going down the roster talking about who is in trades and who is not. We don't do that.»

Green published a podcast Saturday morning relaying a call he had with Dunleavy a couple of days before the deadline, saying that Dunleavy told him about their trade talks with the Bucks, letting him know that, if Milwaukee were to accept, Green or Butler would've been in it.

«He didn't rule it out,» Green said. «He didn't say we're not putting you in the deal. So I took that as, 'All right, that'll probably be me.'»

The Bucks never showed enough interest in the set of draft picks the Warriors were offering to move forward with an Antetokounmpo deal. The Warriors instead pivoted to a trade for Atlanta Hawks big man Kristaps Porzingis, sending Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield out in the deal.

Porzingis possesses a skill set that the Warriors lack. He is a 7-foot-3 rim