Buying or Selling Bill Simmons' Draymond Green Trade Ideas

On the Tuesday episode of his podcast, Bill Simmons floated two Draymond Green trade concepts the Warriors could pursue.

“I wonder if there was a Rui Hachimura and a contract for Draymond. ... Or with a Sabonis sitting out there for the Kings. Could that be a Draymond, Kuminga, and picks and let’s just try to get a guy."

I'll flesh out those trade proposals and then put on my GM shoes and decide if Mike Dunleavy and the Warriors would have interest in them.

Draymond Green, Al Horford and Trayce Jackson-Davis for Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt and Jaxson Hayes

It's easy to see why the Lakers would have interest in trading for Green. They have three elite scorers in Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James, but they don't have a defensive savant like Green.

Hachimura is a valuable secondary scorer because he's so efficient. He's averaging 13.3 points per game on 53.5/45.6/75.0 shooting splits. He'd essentially be the Warriors' third scoring option.

Lineups with Hachimura at the 4 and Quinten Post at the 5 would give extra space for Jimmy Butler and Stephen Curry to drive.

The Warriors also get a little bigger and more athletic with Vanderbilt and Hayes, while the Lakers get Horford after targeting him in the offseason.

It makes some sense for both teams, but the Warriors would need a more dynamic defender in the return package to seriously consider this. Hachimura is a minus on that end, and though Vanderbilt has a reputation for being a defensive ace, the Lakers have actually been slightly better defensively with him off the floor over the last two seasons, per Cleaning the Glass.

Verdict: Sell This Idea from the Warriors' Perspective

Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga for Domantas Sabonis

First, let's address Sabonis' knee injury. He's expected to be out until mid-January. We will assume he's made a full recovery by then.

Next, Simmons said the Warriors would have to include picks in this deal. It's possible the Kings would demand some draft capital, but I'm guessing it wouldn't be much.

The Kings have been stuck in NBA purgatory—they haven't been contenders, but they've made just one top-eight pick in the last seven drafts—and they probably wouldn't mind getting off Sabonis' expensive contract (owed $45.4 million in 2026-27 and $48.6 million in 2027-28) and completely reshaping their roster. And in this trade, they get Kuminga, who they've had interest in for months.

Once again, the issue with this trade is Golden State's defense without Green. Sabonis isn't a total disaster on that end because he's a very good rebounder, but he's not tall enough (6'10") or athletic enough to protect the rim well and he's a little too slow-footed to defend in space.

Sabonis' passing would be intriguing in the Warriors offense, but if Golden State is dead set on a trade like this one, it should target Anthony Davis, who is also great offensively and way better defensively.

Verdict: Sell This Idea from the Warriors' perspective