Draymond GreenForward, Golden State Warriors

Draymond Green Reacts to "Ridiculous" Chet Holmgren Trade Talks

4 Jun 2026 · 1 min

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1:12

In this solo YouTube monologue, NBA veteran Draymond Green addresses the surge of trade speculation surrounding Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren after a disappointing playoff series. Green acknowledges the criticism of Holmgren’s performance but argues that labeling him a bust and demanding a trade is both ridiculous and premature. He highlights Holmgren’s elite defensive credentials—second in Defensive Player of the Year voting, a spot on the All‑Defensive First Team, and an All‑NBA Third Team selection—to underscore his value. Green then critiques the broader pattern of franchises panicking and making knee‑jerk trades, suggesting this mindset hinders long‑term success. He also notes the Thunder’s financial realities, stating that paying $250 million in salary and luxury‑tax penalties next season is unlikely, implying that a trade is not financially motivated. Overall, Green defends Holmgren’s future with OKC and warns against reactionary roster moves.

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And there's been so much talk about, oh my God, what do they need to do? Do they need to trade Chet? And it's crazy, man, how people flip because Chet had an awful series. You watch it and it just wasn't enough. Hey bro, you gotta go down swinging. And it just didn't feel like Chet went down swinging. So I understand criticizing Chet and all of that, but acting like he's just a bum and he should be traded, like I thought all of that talk is ridiculous and premature. It's the exact way franchises set themselves back and never grow. It's the exact reason that so many franchises most franchises don't have the ultimate success. Because most franchises actually panic and do what everyone's saying they should do, which is, "Oh man, we gotta trade Chet right now." Man, Chet was just second in Defensive Player of the Year voting, All-Defense First Team, All-NBA Third Team. And I just can't understand for the life of me why that's always the first thing everybody say. Y'all gonna have GMs calling Sam Presti like, "Oh man, we'll take Chet and Sam." Hang up in their face. Not trading Chet Holmgren. So no, I don't expect Chet Holmgren to be traded. They will have to make some moves because I also don't foresee OKC paying $250 million in salary and taxes next year and going into the second April. I don't see that either. Woo!