Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. emphasized the franchise is still committed to forward Draymond Green following his indefinite suspension during a media availability on Thursday, reports ESPN’s Kendra Andrews.
According to Andrews, Dunleavy said Golden State is truly treating this as an indefinite absence and that the end goal is for Green to get to a point where he can be with the team long term, which echoes reporting from Wednesday. However, Dunleavy doesn’t know for sure that these measures will change Green’s behavior in the long run, per Andrews.
“I can’t guarantee you that,” Dunleavy said. “I can just say we will continue to do the right things to help him. I think we’ve done a decent job at that in the past and we’ll continue to work through it all. There are a lot of parties involved. The biggest thing here to me is not the punishment, it’s helping and giving assistance.”
The Warriors continue to emphasize to Green that they’re a better team with him on the court than off it and are telling him he has to do whatever he can to stay on the floor. As Andrews points out, Green has missed eight games from a combination of suspension, injuries and personal reasons this year, along with having been ejected from three more.
There is some level of concern that Green might not be able to stay on the floor when he returns, according to Andrews, with continued harsher punishment being plausible for further incidents.
“His ability this year has been great, his availability has not,” Dunleavy said. “… That’s part of the dance we got to walk and part of things we need to address. He’s got to be aware of it. Hopefully, we can get him to a point where he’s still the same high-energy, competitive guy. And if situations arise, he’s got to find a way to regulate that.”
The Warriors are disappointed in Green’s failure to regulate his actions on the court, according to Andrews. ESPN sources said Golden State lost leverage in holding Green accountable when they didn’t do so after he punched former teammate Jordan Poole last year. At some point, there could be a shift in how the Warriors handle Green, especially if the bad outweighs the good he does on the court, per Andrews.
Still, at 10-13, the Warriors and Dunleavy are hoping this ends up differently.
“I think this is something a lot of people see as a problem, but we’re looking to turn it into a positive,” Dunleavy said. “He’s at a point in his career and his life where you want to get some things straightened out. Maybe you need a jolt like that. I think it’s been very positive, very open and I’m extremely optimistic we can get where we need to go.”
There’s more from Dunleavy’s media session:
- Dunleavy said Green will remain with the team throughout his suspension, but he won’t be there every day and he wasn’t in attendance for the team’s Thursday shootaround in Los Angeles, tweets Sportskeeda’s Mark Medina. According to Medina, he’ll be able to practice with the team but obviously won’t be able to play in games or be at the arena during the suspension. “We think the healthiest thing is for him to be around,” Dunleavy said. “It may not be every day but we are not jettisoning the guy off somewhere.“
- Dunleavy said the next 15-20 games will be critical in determining whether or not the team will explore trades at the deadline, tweets The Athletic’s Anthony Slater. The Warriors would rather build a larger sample size before seeing what needs to be done.
- With several players becoming trade eligible on Dec. 15, Dunleavy was asked about potential trades. “The question as to whether we’ll be aggressive, I think you have to be open to see things and look at everything,” Dunleavy said (Twitter link via Medina). “If something makes sense, you do it. But I would never do something just to do something. I’ve had a pretty good track record recently of making positive deals where we’ve been able to look out for our long-term salary spending and acquire good players. We’ll continue to do that.“
- Echoing similar reports from Wednesday, Dunleavy said he and Green’s camp worked together with the NBA to come up with the indefinite suspension (Twitter link via Andrews). “We understand there’s a punishment that will take place but this is also about helping somebody,” Dunleavy said. “They 100% agreed. So did Draymond.“
- Appearing on ESPN’s First Take (Twitter link), NBA Executive Vice President Joe Dumars said the point of the indefinite suspension was to look beyond a specific number and instead to help Green. “We want to see you at your best and the best way for you to do that is to get yourself mentally and emotionally back to where you need to be,” Dumars said. “That’s how we got to indefinite.“
So this is more than about what’s going on on the basketball court? I guess I’m not up to speed with anything going on in Draymonds life
His true issue is his skills are fading as he ages. It’s not a coincidence all these ejections and issues on court happen often when Curry is out or when someone is outplaying him. He can’t back up his trash talk anymore. He would rather be known as the dirty and troublesome player than the aging vet that he once made fun of Paul Pierce for when he was the young guy in the league.
No one has really disclosed anything specific about Greens private life but everyone seems to be implying it.
This suspension puts a serious damper on Green’s pursuit of Rasheed Wallace’s all-time Ejection mark.
The suspension was deserved and fine, let him get himself straight and come back, but when/if it happens again, he’s gone for good.
I don’t know about gone for good, the longest suspension for an on court incident is 60 games and that took Kermit Washington sucker punching Rudy Tomjanovic so hard he broke his nose and skull also causing him to leak spinal fluid.
Exactly. Ron Artest only got seven games for his ridiculous elbow on James Harden, despite the fact that he was also a recidivist.
rct…..nobody cares what religion he is! why i outta……
Zero chance the NBPA goes for that, a relevant party which tends to get ignored in these sorts of situations. The league isn’t putting its pretty amicable relationship with them on the line to fight over Draymond of all people.
My guess would be either another indefinite suspension with even stricter conditions or a 25+ game suspension.
Sounds like they are just giving him a vacation. Helping him, he can still hang out with the team. Come back when you feel like it, Dray. What a joke. This is an embarrassment to the franchise and tarnishes what could have been a legacy. Not addressing the Poole punch is one of the biggest disasters ever.
I am ashamed of my team
rct…..nobody cares what religion he is! why i outta……
Draymond is the new Worm unfortunately. He’s more of a distraction to the team than his play on the court. He’s angry with so many people that he doesnt seem to care for his team. He’s probably still angry with someone who leaked Poole Punch video which cost him much $$$$ and reputation. He’s upset with Kerr, mgmt, ownership and was never remorseful about the incident or wanting to be a better person. It’s very unfortunate situation, but Draymond is no longer welcome in Warriors uniform and will be traded at the deadline. He singlehandedly ruined team’s chemistry last yr and has done it again this yr.. It’s time to move on while he still has trade value.
Draymond has negative trade value at this point bud. Nobody is taking on that contract or the headache
Kerr needs to make a statement and bench Klay immediately. It’s up to Klay to play hard and contribute off the bench. Warriors need to give young players opportunity and confidence. There is no shame to come off tbe bench for Klay. He can still make tons of money, but if he has attitude about it, he will be another Westbrook.
When the game begins to fade for dirty players they always resort to becoming more dirty. Greens dirtiness will only excel at this point.
I wonder if Detroit will give the Warriors a call. Green may be happy to play at home. Bojo would be a great pickup for the warriors.
They should trade for Wiseman
Uhhhhhhh… His ability has not been great this year Mike… his whole role in SF is to play defense and his defensive numbers are down across the board? Add that to his behavior on the court and the calls that follow I’m really not sure what Dunleavy is talking about.