Draymond reveals Harden-Simmons trade winner | The Draymond Green Show

What's up everybody? It's Draymond Green. Make sure you subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel below so you don't miss any more of this great content going forward. We have not spoke, or I haven't gotten a chance to share my thoughts with you guys since the Harden, the James Harden and Ben Simmons trade happened. Obviously that was one we were all wondering like, man, is this really gonna happen before the deadline? Then you kind of heard it would, then you heard it wouldn't, then you heard it would. And then it's like, oh yep, they broke off talks. And then boom, there it is. James Harden is traded. James Harden and Paul Millsap gets traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and two first round picks. I was shocked by how much the 76ers gave up. Yeah. And not that James Harden isn't great because just what it, what felt like to me was James Harden no longer wanted to be in Brooklyn and James Harden wanted to be in Philly. All things pointed towards that. And that's what the reports were. And that's what it felt like to me. It also felt to me as if obviously with all Ben's issues he's dealt with as far as his disdain with the team and how he was treated by Joel, by Doc Rivers in the press conference. Everybody spoke about that and it's been a very public thing after the playoffs last year, how he felt he was treated by the fans, but more importantly, his mental health. And you know, that goes beyond basketball when you're talking mental health. And so most importantly, his mental health. You knew he needed something fresh. He needed something new. And you knew that's, that was kind of what everybody had been expecting all year. When will Ben Simmons get traded? It's not if, it's just a matter of time when. When will the Philadelphia 76ers finally accept a package? And the reality is, Is I think they ultimately got exactly what they wanted. Daryl Morey and James Harden are close. Daryl Morey brought James Harden to Houston. Daryl Morey believed in James Harden as a cornerstone of a franchise before just about anybody else did. You know, they have that rapport, they have done some great things together. They could never get past us, but they were right there every year. And so, To see them get back together along with Joel, along with Doc Rivers, I think that's what they wanted. And it's, you know, you had even heard about it when Houston, when James Harden was still in Houston, that he would possibly get traded for Ben Simmons then. And that was before we had heard about the things that were going on with Ben. This was a whole year prior. And so to see him finally get to where he wanted to be or where it seemed as if he wanted to be before, And then the whole Nets thing kind of came up and out of nowhere. To see Ben get back to a situation where he could play, I mean, I'm always happy to see guys get what they want. Ultimately, if that's what you want, go after it. Always happy to see it. But I must say, I was shocked that Philly were willing to give up Seth Curry and 2 first-round picks. I was really shocked. By that because like this first round pick may be nothing. You know, I mean nothing. There's great players drafted 27, 28, 29, 30. Like I was 35. So I mean the picks can still mean something depending on who's drafting and how they evaluate talent. But it won't be a top 5 pick. It won't be a top 10 pick. It won't be a top 15 pick. Yeah. And so this year, okay. But in 2027, I mean, that's 5 years from now. At that point, James Harden is 37. Joel Embiid is 33, 34. Like you don't, it's a lot more uncertainty with that pick than it is with the 2022 pick. I was a little shocked to see how much they gave up. And like I said, even bigger than the picks for me was Seth Curry. Like I just didn't think Philly would be trading Seth Curry, especially the way James Harden plays. You've seen shooters around him that can catch and knock the shot down. And with Joel Embiid, I mean, you always wanna pair a big man with a shooter just in case they're trying to double team in. You can't help off Seth Curry. So that takes one guy outta the picture. And so with them putting that team together, I was really shocked that they gave up Seth Curry. But ultimately, may, you know, then it comes down to negotiating and maybe the Brooklyn Nets knew they don't want to give up Seth Curry, but they really want James Harden. So ultimately I can hold them hostage by just saying, you have to give me Seth Curry. And if that gets the deal done and James Harden is really your guy, which you know he's really Philly's guy, then maybe that's how that happened. And that's how, you know, I think Brooklyn won that battle. And so I'm excited to see Ben play with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, I think, and Steph Curry and Patty Mills. Like, you give a player with Ben's playmaking ability, with his speed, the way he can pass the ball, his court vision, you give a player all of those weapons with his skillset, I'm excited to see how this turns out for him. And then, you know, we play in a copycat league. When someone has success, everyone tries to follow it, which is why the NBA is the way it is today because the Warriors has success playing a certain way and everyone follows it. That's just the way this league works. And Philly is now back to your traditional great big man, great guard. And that's what the league used to be. You think Shaq, Kobe, you think— Draymond Green. Penny and Shaq. And like, you think David Robinson and Tim Duncan was a little different story. They were two twin towers. But you know, you can go around the NBA for years, Magic and Kareem, like it goes back. Great guard, great big man. That's kind of where you start. That's where you started building your team. And then you built out from there. And it's interesting to see, The way James Harden has typically played over the last 5, 6 years, especially with, with Daryl Morey at the helm making all the decisions, he's played a certain style of basketball. Joel has gotten accustomed playing to a certain style of basketball. Both great players. So I don't not think they can mesh. Like I definitely think they can mesh, but it'll be interesting to see them go back to a great guard and a great big man and see what type of success that they have because the league, you know, everything comes back around. You got small ball, you got two big men, like everything comes back around. You always hear fashion, like fashion never goes outta style. It always come back around. And so I'm interested to see now with them back to a more traditional look, how that works. If it ultimately works, does everyone start copying that again? Because again, we do play in a copycat league. So— Yeah. That was kind of my take on, on the Harden and Simmons trade. In my opinion, the Brooklyn Nets definitely won the trade and not because James Harden isn't great, because the Brooklyn Nets also got an All-Star. And on top of that, they added probably the top 3-point shooter in the NBA as far as percentage goes. I'm not sure if he's leading the league in percentage this year. If he's not, he's probably right up there at the top. But as you can look back the last 4 years, he's been 1 or 2. And so that's what I thought really gave them the edge in that trade. And so we'll see how it plays out. But one thing for certain is both of those teams got way stronger through that trade and made the Eastern Conference a lot tougher. And so it's gonna be interesting to see the Eastern Conference come playoff time with the Miami Heat, with the Milwaukee— I'm sorry, Milwaukee Bucks should always be mentioned first. They're the defending champion. The Milwaukee Bucks, the Miami Heat, the Brooklyn Nets, the Philadelphia 76ers. You got the Toronto Raptors with championship DNA between Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby. And so they have that championship DNA. So you can't just count them out and you know, they're not gonna fear, they're gonna come in, they're gonna play hard and they're always a tough matchup. And so it's gonna be interesting to see what happens in the Eastern Conference. 'Cause I think that trade, it really strengthened those two teams, which ultimately strengthened the conference. And not to forget the up-and-coming Cleveland Cavaliers, who are last week's guest. DG said, y'all better watch out cuz they not looking at the future. They looking at now, you know? And so the Eastern Conference, man, there's gonna be some great playoff series over there. And speaking of the Eastern Conference, we also saw Porzingis traded to the Washington Wizards for Davis Bertans and Spencer Dinwiddie. That was a very interesting trade for me. And the reason that was an interesting trade, because number one, they brought Spencer Dinwiddie in this summer as their starting point guard. And for someone that is coming off of an ACL injury, just now getting back to playing, and for the mission to be aborted in like the first 3 or 4 months of the partnership, that was shocking for me. Because early on in the season, they were playing well, you know, then you had COVID stuff and, you know, we all faced COVID, but then you had COVID stuff, you had people missing time due to injury, and then the mission was kind of aborted. So you never truly know what it could have become. Maybe they saw something that the rest of us didn't see. But in that trade, Porzingis going to Washington, I'm also interested to see how that work out. 'Cause I think Kyle Kuzma is playing some of the best basketball of his career. And all around basketball. He's rebounding great, he's passing the ball great, he's scoring the ball great. And so the groove that, the, sorry, the growth that Kyle Kuzma has had in his career and especially the next step that he's taken in playing for Washington this year, he's been playing the 4 spot. And so, you know, you bring Porzingis in, Porzingis has played some 4, he has played some 5. But then you also have some good young biz. I think Thomas Bryant just went down with an injury again. Not sure how significant the injury is. But then you also have Daniel Gafford, who they signed to a contract. And so I'm also, I'm just interested to see how that plays out. And you have Danny Avisia also there at the 3 spot. And so like, where does Kuzma fit in in that? Because Kuzma is having an incredible year. Does Porzingis play the 5? Like I have all of these questions and I'm excited, you know, even the first couple games that's played, like it's impossible to figure out then, like those things will play out over the course of time. It won't happen in a week. And so I'm just excited to see what'll come of that trade. Porzingis' tenure in Dallas wasn't the best. It's kind of felt like he was gonna be on the move the last couple years. And to finally see him traded, I hope to see him get back to the player that he once was. It felt like that Porzingis was coming back to start of this year and then COVID happened for him and some injury stuff. And so interested to see if he'll get back to the level that we saw him at, at the New York Knicks, you know, when he earned the name the Unicorn because he was playing some incredible basketball. And you always wanna see guys at their best. And being able to get back to that, to what was the mountaintop for them, you know, in their peak form. So it'll be interesting to see. And Dallas obviously added another guard. I'm sure Spencer Dinwiddie will come off the bench for Dallas, but they added another quality guard off the bench. And then they added another shooting big in Bertans. And with the way Luka Dončić plays, Luka Dončić has the ball a lot. He's creating for everyone. You can't help off Davis Bertans. He has one of the purest jump shots in the league. And so I thought that was a great add by Nico Harrison, new GM of the Dallas Mavericks. I thought that was an incredible trade. Traded a guy who still has some value and didn't quite work out for them. He didn't— I think one thing that you see in great GMs around the league, and obviously this is Nico's first tenure, But one thing you see in great GMs is they know when to move on. Like you don't hold onto the problem and compound a problem. Not that I'm saying Porzingis was a problem, but he was a problem in Dallas. Not that he was a problem child. Like it just wasn't working. Like it wasn't working for him. It wasn't working for them. But yet they still have a thing that can work and he still has a game that can work. And so to see the two officially part ways, I thought that was a great job by Niko. And like I said, you just see some people hold on to things way longer and then they lose value. And so they got some pieces that they can add into an already good basketball club. I thought that was a great move by them and we'll see what comes of it for both of those teams. But I thought it was a pretty good move by both of them. And then finally, before we get to the Fred VanVleet interview, As we spoke a little bit about briefly, the St. Louis, psych, the LA Rams won the Super Bowl. Was incredible. So first off, I want to talk about the champs, the Super Bowl champs, the LA Rams. There's been a lot of talk that Aaron Donald should have won the MVP. Cooper Kupp had one of the best seasons statistically that a wide receiver has ever had. And so— He did. And he had a great game. Can't take anything from him. But I personally thought, and especially as a defensive guy, I personally thought Aaron Donald should have won MVP. He controlled the line of scrimmage, which if you know anything about football, controlling the trenches is just as important as a quarterback playing well. We've seen guys control games and only a select few of guys control games from the defensive end spot. Mm-hmm. We've seen Von Miller do it and go to it and win a Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos. Now obviously they had the GOAT, one of the GOATs, Peyton Manning as quarterback, but that was also in Peyton's later years. Von Miller really could control the game from the defensive end spot. And he's starting to get back to that form as you can see in the Super Bowl and in his time with the Rams this season. Reggie White obviously could control the game from the defensive end spot. Lawrence Taylor could obviously control the game from the defensive end spot. Aaron Donald is a defensive tackle and he can control a game from the defensive tackle spot as he did in that Super Bowl. I mean, he had 3 sacks and I mean, like, let's, let's put that into some basketball numbers for those that don't understand football. Him having 3 sacks in the Super Bowl is like— Him having 2 sacks in the Super Bowl is like having 26. Points. Him getting that third sack to close the game out is like having 34 points and a game winner. If a guy have 34 points in, in, in a game 7 of the NBA Finals— now granted, it's a little skewed because there's more games in NBA Finals, but let's say that guy has had a pretty good NBA Finals and then he finished the game with 34 points and a game winner in game 7. That guy is gonna walk away with Finals MVP. That's what Aaron Donald just did. He finished the game with 34 points and he hit the game winner and he did not walk away with the MVP because it's so hard for defensive guys in any sport to get the recognition that they deserve. And so I, like I said, I can't take anything from Cooper Kupp away because he had an incredible year, an incredible game. So— Yeah. Well deserved, but I definitely think Aaron Donald should have and could have gotten MVP. And the reality is you're not gonna see that often. Like the next time we'll see a defensive guy other than Aaron Donald control a game like that and actually be deserving of MVP, like who knows when we'll see that again? Like you gotta reward guys when it's there. And so I don't know, I thought— Draymond Green. That there would be a high chance that he wouldn't get it because that's how people operate. But, and it actually happened. So I will see. Another year goes by, another defensive guy, a defensive guy can't get the MVP of the Super Bowl. But they got the most important thing, which was a ring. Man, I wanna send a bunch of love to OBJ. I've spoke about this before, like some guys need bright lights. A lot of people, you put them under the bright lights, they fold. There's a very select few of guys that you put them under the bright lights and they get better. And OBJ is one of those guys. You put him in the brightest of lights and he shine like the brightest of stars. I mean, he had 2 receptions for 52 yards and a touchdown, was about to have another 15 to 20 yards on the reception that he dropped where he tore his ACL. That right there, I think it was still the first quarter, would've been 3 catches, 75 yards and a touchdown. He was also very well on his way to MVP, but just send a bunch of love, a speedy recovery to OBJ. You never wanna see a guy get injured. And for a guy who's went through what he's gone through and seems as if he's found his purpose, he's found himself, he's found a woman for him, he's about to welcome a child into this, his first child into this world with his woman. Like so many things going for him and to see him even flourish in that moment and for it to abruptly end like that, it sucked. It definitely sucked. And so, but he's a Super Bowl champion and I'm looking forward to him getting back out there next year and reproving all over again who he is, why he is who he is. Because he's just a special talent like that. And like I said, when the lights get the brightest, he shine like the brightest of stars. And some guys just need that. And I respect guys that when that level raise up, their play go to another level because it's a very rare thing in sports. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]