Draymond Green | Warriors 2025 End of Season Interview

Draymond Green | Warriors 2025 End of Season Interview

DMA, I know last night you said that like you still feel very good about the situation. Um, what what are your what’s your mindset about the team going into the off seasonason? Do you do you think some pretty big changes need to be made or just think a little here and there and that should be enough to to get you back close to where where you want to be? I think the biggest change that needed to be made was we needed someone like Jimmy Butler and we made that change. Um, so I think the hardest part is done. Um, it’s harder to get guys like that uh through trade, through free agency. Just doesn’t come up often. And so I think that part is done um and puts us in a much better situation going into this off season than last year where we’re kind of looking for that, you know, and um so that being said, uh we have to get better, you know, and we we understand that, you know, we lost in the second round regardless of what the circumstances were. We we lost in the second round, so we need to improve. Um, I’ve always we’ve always spoke about there being 82 game players and 16 game uh players. At some point for us, we have to take a look at both because, you know, um, ideally, you don’t want to be from February 8th on scrap scrapping and clawing for every win that you could possibly get. it that takes a toll after a while. You know, for us, we’ve kind of been in playoff mode for the last three months. It’s not a highly effective way to win a championship. And so, I think we all understand that from top to bottom in an organization. And we need to put ourselves in a better position to have a great year, not finish great. If that makes sense. And I hope that don’t come off as like, yeah, we want to finish great obviously, but the year needs to be indicative of that to allow the finish to be what we want it to be. Um, you know, having to play three months of playoff, I think ultimately took its toll, uh, you know, over the course of the last few weeks. Um, so I think that’ll be the focus. um feel very confident, very strongly that we can still make another run or two at the ultimate prize. Uh but we definitely have to get better. How do you view the the future of the center spot for this organization and how much it’s going to be, you know, you when it comes down to it or how much you, you know, might need just more reinforcements at this stage of your career. Um, I am the center of the future. No, I’m just playing. I mean, you you might be right. No, honestly, uh, listen, Lon has been here for 10 years. Uh, and he’s been incredible. Help was a key cog in us winning a championship in 2022. Trace um has grown a lot, you know, over the past two years um of being a what was he the 52nd pick or something like that? 57. And you know, with the strides that he’s made, it’s been incredible. Uh what we do at the position, I’m not sure. Uh that’s not really my role, but what I will say is I think you always have to be looking to get better. If you’re not looking to get better in this league, I missed. If you’re not looking to get better in this league, you’re either getting better or you’re getting worse because everyone else is doing the same. And so, I don’t know what happens. I think um you know, Mike, take a deep look at all of those things. I know whenever I’m caught up on the play to five, I can I think I, you know, there was a big um there was kind of a big worry with me playing the five so much this year. And I think I’ve answered those questions. you know, I’ve been strictly a five since Jimmy’s been here uh until two nights ago, you know, so and I think I my body held up great. I I feel great. I think I’m coming out of this season as healthy as I’ve come out of any season. And that was with logging 35 to 37 minutes a night for three straight months after five position fighting for a playoff spot. And so I know I’m cut out for it and can handle it. Uh but I said we we have to get better and and improving requires you to look at everything. So I’ll always be an option for our organization. And if they want to go that direction, I’m always going to be right. I’m not I wouldn’t turn that down. You know, you know what? If it’s like, oh man, you can start at the five or you don’t start. Well, I’m going start at the five. You know, I’m I’m it is what it is. I think when I look around the league, yeah, guys are big. Um, Joker, Singon, Zubach, Joel, healthy Joel. Like, yeah. But I don’t back down from anyone. And if that’s what our organization decide to do, I’ll be right here ready to go. And if they decide that want to go one of the fives on the roster, great. If they want decide they want to go after someone, great. Um, you know me, I’m always in favor of what’s best for this organization. I can always see past myself uh when it comes to this organization. Draymond, we know the uh the guarantee that you made it to the All-Star break, but then you also said later to Carth Ammani that you like your chances even more next season. How excited are you to have a full training camp with Jimmy, a full season with Jimmy, and how much did you learn in these three months about the core of you, Steph, and Jimmy? I learned that we’re capable. Um, you know, we all believe we’re capable, but then to get out there and put the product on the floor and actually prove that you are, even more so to ourselves than anyone. Uh, we’re capable. Um, training camp will be great for us. It’s funny cuz I was just telling uh I was talking to Stack on the Bench last night and we was talking about some things. I’m like, man, like if this group had training camp together, like some of the mistakes that we make, we just wouldn’t make, you know, um especially on the defensive end, like we just wouldn’t make those mistakes if we had a training campus. So, I think, like I said, I think coming back next year, we’ll be even in a better position than we were this year. Um, number one, cuz you can manage the season better, you know, like which helps when you’re trying to compete for a championship, especially at the ages we’re at, it helps a lot. So, the utmost confidence in that that we can come back and do what we set out to do. Um, it’ll take some possible retooling of the roster. I don’t think any roster has stayed the same from year to year in the NBA and definitely not one that lost in the second round. So, I think we got the best organization in the league. Uh, Mike Dunle has been nothing short of amazing since taking over for arguably the greatest one of the greatest GMs in NBA history. um come in and take over an impossible job. Like, how do you follow that success up? And yet, I can tell you just as someone who’s been in the weeds, he’s been amazing. Um being a GM is often times judged by the roster moves you make, team you build. The part that people don’t show is all the sidebar conversations and having a pulse of the team. Like Mike has an incredible pulse of this team. He’s always in the weeds on the small stuff a lot like Bob was. You know, no conversation is left unturned. He’s not afraid to have the tough conversations. Um, and that’s special because it a lot of people aren’t like that. Uh and so I have the utmost confidence that uh Mike will do the right things [Music] and the job that he’s been doing as just keeping this thing together and moving it forward and helping it grow collectively as an organization. but then also the work that he does with individuals and the conversations that he’s walking around having with individuals, he understands that he gets it. Uh, which puts us in a really good spot? Draymond, that there could be some stars available this summer. When you and Jimmy and Steph talk about what you guys need, do you think it’s another star? Do you think it’s improving, you know, on the margins, whether it be more size, more shooting, uh, knowing the landscape today? cuz I mean I remember when last summer you guys went after you said, “Hey, this might not work at all. We got to be careful.” How do you feel about now knowing with you three guys what you might need? Uh with us three, I think, you know, like I said, I think we’ve shown that we’ll have a good chance. Uh as far as stars go, you ultimately hope that what you have is enough because it’s hard to get stars. like even if they’re available, it’s just hard to pull off and not give up something you want to give up or auctioning off the future of your organization. Like it’s tough to get. You see that happen around the league often and more often than not it usually don’t work. Like I think it’s not worked way more often than it actually has worked. And so you have to be conscious of that. You can’t just go after name because the name is like we we’ve won enough to know what winning looks like and what the pieces how the pieces of the fuz puzzle fit together. And so we’ll we’ll operate in that manner um for as much as I could say being a player and not like really making the decisions. But I I’ve been here for 13 years. I know how this organization works. Joe won’t make a desperate move. Um, or Joe won’t allow a desperate move to make. And Mike’s not a desperate guy. Uh, it’s just not something we do. And so, I don’t foresee us auctioning off everything for someone. I could be wrong, but it’s just not how this organization is operated. In saying that, I think anytime the opportunity presents itself, you always have to lift up the curtain and take a peek if you want to be an organization that competes at the highest level, which we are. So, yeah, you’re always going to take a peek and see what’s out there and listen. But, uh, does that ultimately happen? I don’t know. Um, but what I will say is Mike’s done such an incredible job that if we did want to do that, we’re set up for it. And so ultimately all you want to do is give yourself a chance. Whether that’s a chance in free agency, whether that’s a chance in trade talks, whether that’s a chance at a championship, ultimately in this league, you just want to give yourself a chance. And I think with the great work that our front office has done, our ownership group has done, we’re in a position to where we could do that if that’s something that they saw fit and wanted to do. And that’s ultimately what you want. You know, in life, we want freedom. You want financial freedom. You want cap freedom, you know. Um, as far as basketball go, you want cap freedom in life. We want financial freedom. we want, you know, so our organization has done a great job of that and we’re in a position to where if that’s what they see fit and want to do, we can do that and I think that’s the best position to be in. Last Draymond, um, you said that you were going to follow Steph and Jimmy to a championship. Looking at the the postseason landscape right now, if Steph had been healthy, do you still think that you guys could have done that? I wholeheartedly believe uh Steph was healthy, we could have done that. But I once won a championship where Kyrie Irving got hurt in the NBA finals and Kevin Love got hurt in the NBA finals. Do I think we still would have won if they didn’t get hurt? I do believe so, but we’ll never know. That’s just the nature of the sport that we play. Um, injuries are a part of it and they’re unfortunate. So, you can’t take the good and be like, “Oh man, we won a championship and it don’t matter that somebody was hurt.” On the flip side, can’t sit here and be like, “We would have won had Steph not got hurt.” No, you’ve been on the other side of that. So, respect it when it don’t go your way. You know, uh, one thing I hate as a front runner, you know. Oh, man. We we won our championships because we were that good, which we were. But Kyrie Irvin got hurt. Kevin Love got hurt. Robert Williams got hurt. That is the nature of the sport we play. So unfortunately this time, luck wasn’t on our side and Steph Curry got hurt. But we’ve dealt with it before. Kevin Durant got hurt, Klay Thompson got hurt, you know. So you start to take a peek. It happens every year somewhere. It may not be here. It may be another team. But when it ain’t on your side, you can’t be the guys that go up there and be like, “Man, we would have won if Yeah. In a perfect world, probably. But the world ain’t perfect. It’s far from it.” And so take the good with the bad. The Minnesota Timberwolves ended our season. They beat us regardless of who we had on the floor. we were a playoff team and they moving on. That’s just it sucks for Steph that he wasn’t able to be out there cuz you work so hard for those moments to be to be in that situation. And so I feel for him, but under no circumstance will I be like, “Oh man, they lucky.” No, they won and move on. We try to get better this off seasonason and try to do it again next year. What is your kind of big picture view on Kaminga and his four years here and you know the talent that he is the fit that has kind of you know been a roller coaster um just and and his future and if it’s here his future is bright whether it’s here or whether it’s somewhere else his future is bright um that type of talent usually figures it out and I think he will figure it out like I said I don’t know where that will be Um, but wherever it’ll be, I think he’ll be just fine. When I look at his four years, I think he’s grown a ton. The player he was coming in here four years ago and the player that he is today, he made a couple plays in that game defensively yesterday and I pulled him to the side. I said, “Now you playing because you’re making reads defensively.” I think uh maybe Nikquil Alexander Walker had screened for Ant-Man and got the switch on. Maybe Buddy, could have been BP, I don’t really remember who it was that switched on to him. JK starts diving down the paint with his man. Most guys in that situation go run with the man, leave that guy on the island, and then hope that the next guy go help. And he stopped. He ran with him. He saw that he wasn’t looking, stopped at the free throw line, and went back and double team that. That’s a play he wouldn’t have made three months ago. And to most people, that’s a very small play, but that is how you stop problems on the defensive end before they happen. So to see him taking those steps, I think that’s more special than than the offensive steps he’s taking because you’re really starting to read the game now. And so I think uh same thing I’ve always believed his future is extremely bright. Um in this business that we’re in, there’s no way to be certain that that’ll be here or somewhere else. But the beautiful thing about it is when you’re a talent like that, you usually people usually find a way to make it work. So whether that’s the Warriors finding a way to make it work or another team finding a way to make it work, uh he has my utmost love and support because I want to see him do well. And in an ideal world, that’ll be here. But this game we play and this sport we’re in and this business we in, it ain’t always ideal. So see what happens. But definitely wishing him the best of luck with his free agency because we’ve all been there before. It’s a very stressful place. Um, but it’s the nature of the business. So, I think he’s taken tremendous strides and I think he’ll continue to grow.

Draymond Green met with the media to recap the Golden State Warriors 2024-25 season.