Warriors' Draymond Green on Lauri Markkanen Trade Rumors: 'That Could've Been Trash'

Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green didn't lose any sleep when it became clear the team wasn't going to land Lauri Markkanen from the Utah Jazz.

"That could have been trash, by the way," he said of bringing the 7'0" forward to Golden State, per ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk. "Markkanen coming here, we don't know. We have never seen it. So there was no thought of what could have been because we don't know what that look like."

Green told The Athletic's Anthony Slater the Warriors front office approached him with the idea of getting both Markkanen and Paul George this past offseason.

"The conversation was always about that possibility," he said. "You get both of those guys, you make a huge splash. But the Clippers weren't really willing to play ball. Then Danny Ainge was being Danny Ainge."

Green said the Los Angeles Clippers weren't all that interested in a sign-and-trade, which removed the Warriors from the George sweepstakes. That paved the way for him to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers outright.

Markkanen subsequently signed an extension with the Jazz, and the timing of the agreement means the Jazz can't trade him until next summer at the earliest.

Especially after George joined the Sixers, the argument against a Markkanen trade from Golden State's perspective was that he'd unlikely raise the team's ceiling high enough to justify the overall cost. The 27-year-old simply hasn't proven himself to be that kind of star yet.

Some sort of consolidation trade feels inevitable for the Warriors, though.

Even if you have 12 players who are good enough to contribute, the 12-man rotations head coach Steve Kerr has experimented with aren't sustainable for a team with playoff aspirations. Leveraging some of that depth down the road for a decorated veteran could be beneficial.

For now, Green and his teammates are getting an opportunity to show how good the roster is as currently constructed before general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. contemplates anything too radical.