Warriors GM Denies Draymond Green Was Included in Trade Talks After Giannis Rumors at NBA Deadline

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green detailed his conversations with general manager Mike Dunleavy regarding a swap for Milwaukee Bucks superstar  Giannis Antetokounmpo prior to Thursday's trade deadline.

"We talked for quite a while and then he's like, 'By the way, on the Giannis front, obviously we spoke about Giannis, we talked about what picks we'd send them, we haven't talked really about the players that would go into the deal. But obviously, if we were to do a deal with Giannis, you or Jimmy would have to be in the trade just to make it work,'" Green said on The Draymond Green Show. "But what it said to me in that moment was there's a chance I may get traded for Giannis because he didn't rule it out. He didn't say, 'We're not putting you in the deal.' So I took that as, 'Alright, it'll probably be me.'"

Dunleavy also discussed the rumors involving Green, via ESPN's Anthony Slater.

"His name was not in conversations other than the ones where teams called me to ask about him," Dunleavy said. "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."

ESPN's Anthony Slater reported Tuesday that Green was "involved in the framework of available offers" that the Warriors made to the Bucks for Antetokounmpo.

Slater noted that Green or Jimmy Butler needed to be included in a deal to make salaries match, but the former appealed to Milwaukee more following Butler's season-ending torn ACL.

Green has spent all 14 years of his career in Golden State, amassing four All-Star nods and four championships to go along with 2017 Defensive Player of the Year honors.

While he's established himself as a Warriors franchise icon, it's understandable that the front office would have been willing to part ways with him in order to pair Stephen Curry with Antetokounmpo.

Despite the Bucks' 21-19 record this season, the two-time MVP has averaged 28.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game while shooting 64.5 percent from the field. He's also four years younger than Green.

Milwaukee ultimately chose to hold onto Antetokounmpo beyond the deadline, ensuring that Green will remain with the Warriors for at least the remainder of the regular season.