A longtime Warriors insider says a rough start could put Draymond Green on the move by February, and the contract math would be the easy part.
For most of the past decade, the idea of the Golden State Warriors trading forward Draymond Green was not a real conversation.
It is becoming one now.
Longtime Warriors insider Marcus Thompson II said this week on the Kevin O'Connor Show that Green could be dealt at the trade deadline if the season goes sideways, and that a Green trade might signal the start of a full teardown in Golden State.
After a 37-45 year that left the team 10th in the Western Conference, nobody around the league is dismissing the scenario.
What Thompson Actually Said
Thompson framed it as a real possibility rather than a prediction, saying the franchise will learn early whether this group can still compete, and that a bad first half would force the question by the February 11 deadline.
He was just as direct about who is not going anywhere.
"Steph ain't going nowhere. Steph's a lifer," Thompson said.
The distinction is the whole story.
Guard Stephen Curry remains the franchise, while everything around him is now open for discussion in a way it has never been during the dynasty era.
The dynasty core that won four championships together is down to Curry and Green, with forward Jimmy Butler alongside them as he works back from a torn ACL.
The Money Makes It Simple
The mechanics of a deal would be unusually easy.
Green is on an expiring contract worth $27.7 million this season, and expiring money is exactly what contenders and rebuilders alike want to absorb at the deadline.
The Warriors are carrying roughly $100 million in expiring contracts overall, which gives the front office more in-season flexibility than almost anyone.
A team acquiring Green would be adding a defender with championship experience for a playoff run at no long-term cost, and Golden State could ask for young players or a draft pick without taking back money past this season.
The same logic is why the question has even been asked about Curry himself, though that one remains unthinkable.
The Bar Should Still Be High
The honest answer to the headline question is that it would take three things at once, a clearly lost season by February, a willingness from Green to leave after spending his whole career in one place, and an offer that actually helps the next version of this team rather than just clearing a salary.
The Warriors believe they can be much better than last season, and projections of their range this year depend heavily on health, especially how the lineup looks once Butler returns.
There is also a middle path nobody should rule out, where the season wobbles without collapsing and the front office holds its cards, because trading a franchise icon midseason is one of the hardest calls in sports and front offices usually find reasons to wait.
If the wins show up, the conversation dies quietly.
If they do not, Thompson has told everyone exactly how the end begins, and it starts with the player who has defined Golden State's defense through the dynasty years.
