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NBA Trade Rumors: Warriors, Draymond Green About To Have Ugly Breakup

By Adrian Lawhorn
Published on: 09:36 PST, Aug 1, 2016

NBA trade rumors begin to circulate for a variety of reasons, but sometimes a player’s off-the-court antics will land him squarely in the trade rumor mill. That is currently the case for Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors.

According to Sportsrageous, Warriors management is watching the situation closely after Green has had yet another embarrassing off-season incident, and they may be entertaining offers for their mercurial frontcourt star.

Draymond Green’s troubles actually began during the 2015-16 NBA season, particularly during the Warriors’ playoff run. In a first-round game against Houston, Green got in a wrestling match with Rockets forward Michael Beasley and threw him to the ground during the scuffle. That incident resulted in a flagrant foul for Green, but his behavior did not improve.

During the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Green was assessed another flagrant foul after kicking Thunder center Steven Adams in his private area while Green drove to the basket against Adams.

The final straw for the NBA was Draymond Green’s slap toward LeBron James during the NBA Finals. James and Green became tangled up on the floor after Green fell down near midcourt. As James tried to move away from him, Green threw a backhanded punch toward LeBron James’ groin area, as reported by USA Today.

At this point, Draymond Green had accumulated enough flagrant foul points to draw an automatic suspension from the NBA. Golden State lost Game 5 of the NBA Finals with Green sitting out to serve his one-game suspension, and the Warriors went on to lose the series to the Cavaliers in seven games. Many observers feel that Draymond Green’s actions and subsequent suspension may very well have cost his team a second consecutive NBA Championship.

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Once the season ended, things did not get any better for Draymond Green. In early July, Green was accused of punching a Michigan State football player outside a restaurant near the campus. Green was allegedly intoxicated and had to spend a night in jail as a result of the incident.

The latest misstep for Draymond Green came this week, as he posted a photo of his “manhood” on Snapchat. At first, Green lied and said his account had been hacked, but later came clean and admitted that he accidentally shared the picture publicly instead of sending it privately to an individual as he had intended.

The Golden State Warriors are the odds-on favorite to win the 2017 NBA Championship after signing superstar Kevin Durant to a free agent contract this summer. Draymond Green has been a significant contributor to the Warriors’ success the past couple years, but his outrageous behavior both on and off the basketball court is making Golden State’s management think twice about his future with the team.

Prior to the recent decline in Green’s reputation, he was thought of as a feel-good success story. Green was not highly regarded coming out of college, having been chosen in the second round (35th overall) by Golden State in the 2012 NBA Draft. However, even as an undersized power forward, he slowly worked his way up the depth chart and became a regular in Golden State’s starting lineup by 2014. He had a tremendous regular season in 2015-16, posting 14.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game for the 73-9 Warriors.

In the NBA, trade rumors come in all shapes and sizes. At times, there are players whose poor behavior begins to outweigh their contributions and causes their team to move on from them. If Draymond Green can’t curb his recent detrimental conduct, he and the Golden State Warriors may be headed for a messy divorce.

[Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images via AP]

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