The rumors practically wrote themselves amidst the Draymond Green-Jordan Poole fiasco. One prominent theory was that the incident provided an opening for Draymond Green to make his way from the Golden State Warriors to the Los Angeles Lakers to team-up with his good buddy LeBron James.
But how likely is the move to happen? Based on a few whispers from the Warriors brass, the concern level isn't too high for a Draymond-to-Lakers scenario. That's based on a recent interview between HoopsHype's Michael Scotto and Warriors beat reporter for The Athletic, Anthony Slater.
According to Scotto, his sources have indicated that the rumblings within the Warriors organization see it more as a leverage thing, given Draymond's uncertain contract situation with Golden State at present.
Article Continues Below“There’s a belief from some around the league it could be a negotiating tactic to get more money in extension talks with the Warriors,” said Scotto. “And maybe LeBron is trying to weaken the competition in the West. The Lakers have always been connected to star players like Draymond and Kyrie Irving, looking ahead to next summer’s offseason.”
It's an open secret that no team values Draymond Green more than the Warriors do. He fits their playstyle to a tee and has the legacy points that he doesn't hold with other franchises. That certainly puts Golden State in the driver's seat in any negotiations given the lack of legitimate suitors for anything close to what the Warriors would pay him.
While the Lakers could definitely use someone like Draymond Green, he doesn't exactly solve their issues on offense. Green is excellent at finding Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson for open threes, a trait that will be mostly useless and somewhat redundant with LeBron James on the roster surrounded by mostly non-shooters up and down the roster.
The possibility of Draymond Green leaving is very real. But it'll likely be from the Warriors' end as they decide to cut bait given their enormous luxury tax bill rather than Bob Myers and Joe Lacob getting fearful of him teaming up with LeBron in LA.