In the lead-up to the February trade deadline, the Golden State Warriors were on the hunt for a star to bolster their roster and chase a fifth NBA championship. The team had their sights set on a blockbuster reunion with Kevin Durant, who previously powered the Warriors to titles in 2017 and 2018. Discussions with the Phoenix Suns were heating up, and the prospect of Durant’s return had the Warriors’ front office buzzing. However, the NBA world was rocked by a different bombshell: the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, a move that sent shockwaves through the league.
The confusion unfolded at the Warriors’ charity poker tournament, where Draymond Green got the scoop straight from team owner Joe Lacob. “I had just seen Joe Lacob 10 minutes before this happened,” Green shared on Jimmy Kimmel Live. “Joe goes, ‘Draymond, I think we’re gonna get Kevin Durant. It’s right there at the finish line, it’s happening, we’re getting Kevin Durant back.’ I’m like, ‘Oh man, here we go, let’s go.’ We talk about it. He’s like, ‘You think it will work?’ I’m like, ‘Absolutely.’”
Lacob, realizing he’d spilled sensitive information, quickly backtracked. “He comes running back to me two minutes later, ‘Draymond, Draymond, I wasn’t supposed to say anything. Don’t say nothing to nobody.’ I’m like, ‘Joe, I got you, I won’t say anything to anyone,’” Green recounted.
The plot thickened when, just 15 minutes later, Steph Curry shouted across the room, “Draymond, you see the trade?” Green, still riding the high of the Durant news, assumed the deal was done. “I go, ‘It happened!’” Green recalled. But Curry’s response threw him for a loop: “Wait, who?” Green, caught off guard, stammered, “Oh, never mind. Nobody. What happened?” Curry dropped the real bombshell: “Luka got traded.”
A video posted by poker player Alan Keating captured Green’s reaction at the tournament. His face shifted from a beaming smile to utter shock as he processed that it was Doncic, not Durant, who had been traded. “I couldn’t believe it,” Green told Kimmel. “Superstars at 25 don’t get traded. Luka’s a megastar, just coming off the NBA Finals. You just don’t see that in the NBA. I immediately wondered, ‘I have to be next if Luka’s being traded.’”
Ultimately, Durant declined the midseason move to Golden State, opting to stay put. The Warriors pivoted, landing Jimmy Butler instead, who proved to be a seamless fit. With Butler in the lineup, the Warriors surged into the postseason, only to fall short against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the playoffs due to Steph Curry’s hamstring injury. While the Durant reunion never materialized, the Warriors’ trade mix-up and Green’s stunned reaction at the charity tournament became a memorable chapter in their championship chase.