DeMar DeRozan Said 'F--k No' When Draymond Green Tried Recruiting Him to Warriors

DeMar DeRozan spurned Draymond Green when the Golden State Warriors forward attempted to recruit him in free agency last year.

In an interview with the five-time All-Star on The Draymond Green Show podcast (h/t Nick Metallinos of the Sporting News), Green said his good friend responded with "f--k no" when he tried to get him to sign with the Warriors.

Green noted he told DeRozan if he came to Golden State, "we can win a championship."

"He didn't come and we still won a championship," Green added. "I had to throw that one out there."

It's unclear at what point in the lead-up to free agency last summer that Green spoke with DeRozan.

After the 2020-21 season, DeRozan was heavily linked to the Los Angeles Lakers. The 32-year-old told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports last November he felt like it "was a done deal and that we were going to figure it out" with his hometown team.

The move fell through, leading to DeRozan going to the Chicago Bulls in a sign-and-trade with the Spurs. He received a three-year, $81.9 million deal from the Bulls.

On The Hoop Collective Podcast (h/t Eric Eulau of SI.com) in April, ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk noted DeRozan opted not to sign with the Lakers because he felt they "were in sort of disarray" and "didn’t know what they were doing" when he met with team officials.

If the Warriors wanted to pursue DeRozan, it likely would have had to come via sign-and-trade deal with San Antonio because they wouldn't have enough salary-cap space to sign him outright.

It would be fascinating to know how history might have been different if Golden State had to move, say, Andrew Wiggins and another piece or two to bring on DeRozan.

Wiggins played a significant role in the team's run to the NBA Finals last season. The 27-year-old had consecutive double-doubles in Games 4 and 5 against the Boston Celtics. He also earned high marks for his defensive effort in the series.

DeRozan had arguably the best season of his career in 2021-22. He was named to the All-NBA second team and set a career high in scoring average with 27.9 points per game.

The Bulls made the playoffs as the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, but were eliminated in the first round by the Milwaukee Bucks.