Warriors vs NBA Refs, Thunder Won't Break Record, + KD's Revenge on Suns

What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show. On today's episode, I'll get into the rollercoaster of a game in LA. Recent ejection, ejections. Also give my takes on some major headlines around the league, including Jaylen Brown and the Celtics, Jaylen Brunson and the Knicks, KD revenge game, and a potential Trae Young trade. Let's get right into it. [MUSIC] Last night's game in LA. I think the biggest news coming from that game is Steve getting ejected. I think the second biggest news coming from that game is Steph Curry falling out and other players not falling out because he gets grabbed every play, which is an interesting strategy that I'll get into, by the way. Dub's cutting back on turnovers, but— Steve's ejection, first off. I think there's just been these games lately where like we keep losing points. Couple games ago, a game last week or something, I can't recall which game it was, but I remember losing 7 points. Steph shot an and-1, or shot a 3. It was an and-1, which is, you know, that's, there's a 93% chance that it's gonna be a 4-point play because of Steph Curry shooting a free throw. And then shortly thereafter, there was like a situation where he got fouled, shot it, or he shot it, got fouled, whistle blew, goes in, and they waved that one off. And so, you know, there's a 93% chance with Steph Curry that he's gonna make the free throw. So nope, nope, that's 7 points. And then last night, You had the and-1, which is a 93% chance that Steph makes the free throw that was called off. And then the goaltend, which, and I think the and-1 and the goaltend, if I'm not mistaken, they were back-to-back possessions or within 2 possessions of each other. And so that's 5 points that just kind of gets wiped away. And with 7 minutes to go in the game, I know a lot of people's been making a lot of comments about Steve's comments. Mm-hmm. Which I'll get into a little bit, but with 7 minutes to go in the game and like losing 5 points, like I don't know that many teams can make that up in the NBA, but I definitely don't think we are that team that can just make up losing 5 points and 7 points at, you know, at these periods in the game. It, it's just, it's very tough to make up, especially on a night where you're struggling to score the ball. You know, we really struggled with our shot, just getting shots to go in general. We missed layups, we missed open threes. We just, you know, some nights in basketball, you just gonna have those times where you can't make a shot. And last night was one of those nights for us. And I just think in those situations though, what you wanna do is you just wanna give yourself a chance to win. And how you give yourself a chance to win on nights that shots aren't going in is you create points off your turnovers. Which I think we created 20 turnovers and 27 points off those turnovers. Incredible. You defend like crazy, which goes into that. And you take care of the ball, which, A, your turnover rate becomes a source of defense because you're not giving up stuff in transition, but you create more possessions, offensive rebound opportunities, getting shots on the goal. And I think we— We— had 15 more field goal attempts than the Clippers. And so that's how you give yourself a chance at winning the game when shots just aren't falling, which was the case last night. And so, you know, in a situation where shots just aren't falling, to lose 5 points, you know, at the 7-minute mark, those are tough to overcome. And yet and still, we still gave ourselves even another chance. Correct. But that was the source behind Steve's frustration. And quite honestly, I thought it was granted. I've been seeing Steve, Steve's been complaining a lot about the officiating lately and not complaining outwardly, but I could just see it in his body language. I've seen at times where, you know, he's about, he says something to the ref about something. Then a travel, blatant travel happened right in his face. And you could just see in his body language, he's just like— Yeah. You know, and so I feel like this have been mounting a little bit. And last night with the, what I thought was a goaltend, I dropped the pass off to GP and probably my fault. I should have thrown a lob instead of drop-off pass to GP so he could have just carried it in. The only thing is Zubac is 7 feet. And so sometimes throwing that lob over a big man, I'm going to his advantage if I put the ball up in the air. I gotta put it higher up for G to make sure I get it over him. And so sometimes, Sometimes when there's a big, like when there's a guard, no question you're throwing that lob because the guard is getting everything low. But when there's a big like Zubac, the drop-off pass is easier to get through because he's, you know, his size makes it, you know, you gotta try to time it, judge it to where you're throwing the lob, where he can't get it. But then, which is making it tougher for our guy to catch, especially GP got bounce obviously, but GP's 6'2". You know, so if I have to throw it higher to get it over Zubac, it could become a much tougher pass, which is why I dropped it off. But from my perspective, from my point of view, from my angle, um, it looked like a goaltend to me. I thought G got it on the glass pretty quick, and John Collins came and, uh, took it off the glass. Um, and so I thought it was a goaltend. That's why, you know, when I, when I saw Steve going crazy. If you just watch me, I'm just standing there looking because I think it was warranted. I think, you know, you can stop him there, but I think, A, he was proving a point. B, I've been in these situations. He don't wanna be stopped there. And maybe it's the right thing to do, but I understood. And in a game where, like, I can't come in that game and even get attacked with everything that's been going on. So I wasn't gonna say a word, but I thought it was pretty blatant that it was a goaltend. So I just watched Steve let his feelings be hurt. And I thought it was granted. And you know, the situation that I don't understand, in these ejections and fines and all of this is like, when you look and it's blatantly wrong, like dead wrong, I wonder if Steve Fine gets rescinded. It doesn't happen quite for players that way, but I wonder if Steve Fine will get rescinded because he's 1,000% right. That's always an interesting situation. Like when you look and it is blatantly wrong, because what you're essentially asking someone is like, Ah man, you can't let your emotions get the best of you. But when, but what you don't know is when something is blatantly wrong in the heat of the game, A, no one ever usually goes crazy over one mistake or two mistakes. You know that these things build over time. And so you're in emotional game and then like something happens that you're like, yeah, that's wrong. And then something happens And you're like, oh my God, this can't be more wrong. So as a human being, you have natural feelings, like natural human feelings. And one of those human feelings are like, if you feel like something's blatantly happening to you over and over, they raise that level of emotion. And so when you look at these situations, it's like, man, that was wrong for sure. Yeah. Steve got upset, rightfully so. Can't take the ejection back because it's happened. You know, it's not on the sideline. But like, these things cost you real money. And when people are blatantly wrong, like, I'm not allowed to be blatantly wrong because ultimately if I'm blatantly wrong over and over and over again in my job, I'm gonna lose my job. Yeah. But I haven't really seen many officials lose their jobs. You know, there's officials in the league that's been in the league way before I came in the league and can barely move and they still officials. Sometimes people get so elderly and they're on the road and it's a little dangerous. You know, like it's dangerous for themselves, it's dangerous for the drivers around them. Like sometimes you see that happen. And usually when that happen, as family members, we all try to correct the problem to make sure our loved one is safe, to make sure everyone around our loved one is safe. There's some officials that's been in the league quite a long time and don't move well anymore. And like, they keep going, you know? So it's not really like one of those jobs where you just lose your, you lose your job. Mm-hmm. But sometimes when you see these things happen over and over and over again, The frustration gets the best of you, and so, but you still lose the money, but it was blatantly wrong. Like, how, like, what's the balance in that? You know, and so, and just speaking on Steve's ejection, yeah, I thought rightfully so. Like, because at what point does it stop? Yeah. You know, Steph fouling out. Steph gets his 6th foul, which the 6th foul was a foul. I don't know that you call that 6th foul until it's like really affecting movement or anything like that. Steph Curry, and this is what everybody paid to see, just hit 2 free throws. And not that like, yo, Steph just gets the foul because there's still a rule book in the game, but— Yeah. Like, I think feel is important. Steph Curry just hit two back-to-back threes. The foul is two guys going for the ball. It's not really affecting anything. And I know some people will say, well, a foul is a foul. But I will tell you, in this league, Shea Gildress-Alexander is gonna get a foul call for him before Cam Thomas gets a foul call for him. Yeah. Both guys, obviously, Shea's an MVP, so I'm not comparing Shea and Cam Thomas, but I'm just saying both guys are buckets. Shea Gildress-Alexander's MVP of the NBA, but we all know a certified bucket. Regardless of how you feel about Cam Thomas, he's not Shea Gildress-Alexander. I'm not saying that. So before an idiot try to say, "Oh man, like he's comparing," shut up. But Cam Thomas, whether you wanna agree or not, is a certified bucket. He's not gonna get the same call that Shea gets every time. Like, that's just not how this league works. You got tenure. And when you have tenure, you get more calls. That's just the way it works. But when you have tenure in corporate America, you get more leeway, you get more responsibility. Like, so that's just how this world works. Well, in that situation, Steph obviously has tenure. And is that really, is this thing changing the game right now? And I don't quite know that that play was changing the game, except it changed the game because Steph Curry goes out the game. And in a moment where Steph Curry just hit 2 threes in a row, brought us back, That's what everybody paid to see. I said all of that to say, somebody will say, "Oh man, Steph foul, you just call it, and that is what it is." But all calls aren't created equal, and all calls aren't officiated equally. That's just the nature of what we do. Like, that is because it's humans, beings involved, which means there's emotion and feeling and judgment involved. It isn't robots. Like— Yeah. It's human beings. And so just that thing alone, it being human beings, is naturally and automatically gonna make it inconsistent. Because we're human beings, we miss things, we make mistakes. And so it's naturally going to make it inconsistent. So for the guy that says, or girl that says, Doesn't matter if it's Steph, you just call it because it's a foul. Is it affecting something? Because what I can tell you is throughout the course of games, referees don't always call a foul just 'cause it's a foul. If it's not really affecting the play. They don't always call that. So in that situation, I would just think like, "Oh man, there'll be a little more feel to it." To where like, I don't know if you call that call right then. And then the frustration builds because we watch Steph Curry, and I say we, I mean the world of basketball, kind of watches Steph Curry get mauled every game. Like grab, Hell, scarred up. That man got Wolverine scars on his neck and all. Like, he— we watch him get mauled every game. And quite honestly, if I'm these teams, I just grab him too. And I grab him every play because they're not going to call it. Like, it just won't be called every play. You think like, yo, y'all keep grabbing them, I'm gonna call it, y'all stop. Because what we talk in the NBA is freedom of movement. But Steph Curry does not get freedom of movement. Like he get grabbed and he stop and he try to take off, run again. He grab, he stop. And sometimes he'll finally get the call. Sometimes he just run through it. And you ask yourself the question, does his lack of saying things to the referee affect the whistle that he doesn't get? I think so. I am someone who's gonna stand up for myself. Not that Steph isn't someone that's gonna stand up for himself. He just doesn't on the court from a referee perspective. But I do think it ultimately affects him. Yet and still, I think we all wanna be like Steph Curry when it comes to that. But I do think ultimately him not saying much to the referees, they call less. And yet that's who we would all wanna be, is to have that reaction that he has. But they call less. I think I get a better whistle than Steph. A much better whistle than Steph, in my opinion. If something wrong, it's wrong. You know, so I know there's been like a lot of talk about like, "Oh man, Draymond got ejected." This, that, and the other. I have. And— I gotta be on the court for my team, and I know that. When I got ejected the other day, I thought it was crazy. Didn't say much to get ejected. The second tech came from another referee, which is weird because if you follow a referee and they get to that next spot once they move after they get the tech, then you're kind of in danger of getting ejected. When you don't follow that referee, and then you get a tech from another referee, it's usually a little awkward, weird, once things like that happen because that's not really the protocol. Trust me, I've dealt with this protocol a lot. I got a lot of technical fouls, quite a few ejections. I know these things. I know the protocol. That was a little weird to me. Nonetheless, I'm not one to deflect. I gotta be on the court for my team and I will be, and that's that. I think I've been playing really well, which— Draymond Green. Ironically, this coincides with how well I've been playing, but I'll continue to play well, continue to level up, and that's what we'll do. And lastly on my dubs, just the J.K. situation. I know people keep wondering about that. We are 9 days away from the trade deadline. We'll see if something happens. I think, you know, with J.K., what I will say about J.K. is I applaud J.K. and how he's handled this. Such a stand-up young man. Yeah. Great, great person and will be a great player. I wanna share a story that happened on our bench the other day and not to throw one guy under the bus because it's not throwing him under the bus because as basketball players we have emotions. And so you'll hear one guy's emotions in this and you'll, and I want to explain to you who you're dealing with in Jonathan Kamenga. Brandon Pazdzimski, last game, not the Clipper game. He comes out the game in the first, maybe at the end of the first quarter, couple minutes left in the first quarter. When he came out the game, I was sitting at the end of the bench as I always sit in the last seat. JK's right there to my left. He sits right to JK left. And he go, "Man, why he take me out the game? Hey, I just got in the game." And JK goes, "Oh, don't worry about it. Like, it's all good." And he like, "Ah, dang. I just can't believe they just took me out." And J.K. goes, "You know, just adjust to it. You gonna go back in, like just adjust to it, stay ready, like you'll be good." And he go, "Man, just trying to find a rhythm, J.K. Hey, I just got out the game, just got." And J.K. go, "Yeah, but everybody playing in short bursts. So just adjust to the short bursts and be ready to go when you go back." And BP go, "Okay, that's fair." And for me to sit and listen to a 22-year-old, 23-year-old, however JK is, however old he is, sit there and talk another 21, 22-year-old off the ledge. And one guy isn't playing, like not seeing the floor. Yet the other guy his age or a little younger is playing and he's talking him off a ledge. Yeah. No one's gonna highlight that story. But I just wanted to talk about the person Jonathan Kuminga is. So a guy who's not playing, who just signed a $45 million deal, $22 million a year, is sitting at the end of the bench telling another young guy like, "Nah, it's fine. And here's why. And here's why you should move on." So I just wanted to tell that story because oftentimes when situations aren't going right, we start pointing fingers. And it hasn't worked as well as anyone would have liked for JK here, for himself or for the organization. It hasn't worked on both sides. And that happens sometimes in the sports, in the business that we're in. But I wanted to point out who that guy is and his professionalism and how he's dealing with it. So when people try to say, "Oh man, he moping," or— No, no, no, that's what I'm watching him do. So whatever happened at the trade deadline, if Jonathan Kuminga's moved, whoever gets Jonathan Kuminga, that's the guy you're getting. And when you can be like that at 22, 23 years old, the sky is the limit for you. And so, As we near the trade deadline, we'll see what happens. I know there's been so much speculation, but that's the guy we're talking about. And that's the most important thing to me. Coming up next after the break, I'll go around the association, share my thoughts on Jaylen Brown saying he's the best two-way player in the world. OKC losing back-to-back games, KD's revenge game, and much more. I'm back right after this. As promised, we move around the association. Draymond Green has dropped 2 games in a row, bringing their grand total to a whopping 7 losses. And just a few weeks ago, we were talking about them breaking the 73-9 record. And the reason that that record has only been touched 1 time since '96, almost 30 years, is because that shit is hard. When I tell you, a few weeks ago I said, man, I don't recommend OKC going after it. I get why you want to, but it take a lot out of you. Mentally, it takes a lot. You gotta think like, over the course of an 82-game season, I'm gonna be honest with y'all, some days you just aren't there. Some days you like, man, I'm gonna go out here and play. I don't know how it's gonna look. And I'm looking at y'all like this because I want you to get a sense. I'm trying to give you a sense of how it feels. And some days you just go out there and you like, Here we go. And you try to find it. And sometimes you can and sometimes you can't. And you just feel like this. And going for 73 wins, that day that you feel like this, you have to charge yourself up so much just to get to a sustainable place and try to give yourself a chance to win. And when you do that over the course of 82, Man, it takes its toll. So a couple weeks ago I said, "Yo, yeah, they got a chance with the start they on, but we gotta see what happen when you lose a couple, because you going to." You know, OKC starts 24-1. And what I can tell you is 4 to 5 of those wins, probably were games that they had to muster it up, like get themselves going. When you sitting at 24-1, the feeling to muster up and get it going is a little different when you're sitting at 26-5. It doesn't feel like the same sense of urgency needed because what are we really protecting? One loss? Mm-hmm. And so that starts to trickle in. What I can tell you is the '96 Bulls was so far removed from us when we did it in 2016, that the talk right away wasn't '96 Bulls. The talk for OKC right away is 2017 Warriors, '96 Bulls. That takes its toll. You know? J Dub was out. They had found a way to play well without him. You incorporate him back in, that's a big presence. Not that overall, over the course of time, you're not gonna be better with J Dub than without him, you are. But you have to figure that back out. Because AJ Mitchell took a big step. So now he gotta find a role. If he gotta find a lesser role, then that means some other guy's gotta find a lesser of a role. So all of those things happen.— and you're trying to get through those things. And so at 7 losses with 50 games to go, or roughly 48 games, I don't foresee OKC only losing 2 more games. I just don't see it. So I think the 73 talk is out the window. You know, losing to the Hornets last night, Like I remember back in those days when we won, like if I'm not mistaken, I think we lost to the Lakers twice that year when we won 79 and they were trash then. Like you're gonna have these letdown games. Yeah, I think OKC, they'll be fine. It's like nobody's pressing a panic button. The panic button is on for 73. I just don't think that's realistic anymore. But like, they'll lose more games like this where you playing against a team with a record like the Charlotte Hornets and you just let your guard down. But they're still an NBA team. And you look up, you're like, "Oh man, we down 15. All right, let's get it." You look up again like, "Oh man, we down 22. It ain't quite go how it change how we was going change it." "Oh man, we are down 29 points." "All right, that's it, fellas." Right? Like, these things happen throughout the course of an 82-game because these are NBA players. Period. Regardless of what their record says, LaMelo Ball can hoop. Miles Bridges can hoop. Brandon Miller can hoop. Con Kanuppo can hoop. And speaking on Con Kanuppo, there's this huge debate already of like, does he have a real case to win Rookie of the Year over Cooper Flagg? Con Kanuppo, I'm a one, we had the opportunity to play Charlotte Hornets. I spoke to him after the game and I told him, man, I'll be honest with you, young fella. I'm a big fan of your game. I had no idea you were this good. I give credit to Cuffs, Cuffs the Legend. Cuffs last year on Twitter, like very early in the season, was like going crazy about Concanupo. And when Cuffs talk about a player, he usually right. He has a crazy, crazy, crazy way of evaluating talent. And I say crazy way of evaluating talent, I mean, he be speaking on guys that's like way before they actually come into who they are. Like he got a crazy eye for talent. And he was talking about Kyle Knoepel last year, very early in Duke season. And he was raving about this kid. And I didn't really get an opportunity to see Duke play a ton. Like I didn't get an opportunity to see Cooper Knoepel play a ton. Flag player a ton either, obviously. He wasn't wrong. This kid, Khan Kanupu, can hoop, man. And if I'm saying his name wrong, his last name, I do apologize. But Khan can hoop. And I was very surprised by his size. He's 6'6", 6'7"? Big frame. Not weak at all. Like, pretty strong dude. I was very surprised by that, which to me, make who he's been early in his rookie year very sustainable. Shoot the lights out the ball. He got a better handle than he gets credit for. But his size. I think Kyle Kanooper can compete with Cooper Flagg for Rookie of the Year. He's gonna get opportunities. That team believe in him. The organization believe in him. He's gonna lead rookies in 3-pointers made by a long shot. His team record probably won't be good. That's never really been a deciding factor in Rookie of the Year. Dallas's record isn't great, but it'll probably for sure be better than Charlotte maybe. But Kan Kanupu is real. And I told him after the game, I said, "Man, I'm a big fan of yours." I had no idea. Like you were this tall and had that much size. Like, he was like, yeah, man. I'm not that little. I'm not a little guy. And then I was like, and I hear you have brothers, a bunch of brothers that are actually bigger than you. He's like, yeah, man. It's fun with the brothers. And I'm like, man, keep going, young fella. Concanupo can hoop. Charlotte got them wanting him. And I do think he will and should be right there at the top of the Rookie of the Year discussion. He's consistently had a great year. I think Cooper has picked it up, but like if Khan keeps going the rest of the year, I think the consistency from beginning to end has to count for something. We'll see, Cooper's the number one pick. I also know a lot of people has compared Khan to a young Klay Thompson. And I will say the way he's shooting the ball, Can definitely compare him to a young Klay Thompson. I have not seen Khan go guard the other team's best guard, which is one of the things that made Klay truly special. And I haven't seen that Khan has the competitive fire that Klay Thompson has. Klay Thompson has more competitive fire, I think, than anyone I've ever played with, including me. Steph Curry has crazy competitive fire too. But Klay Thompson competitive fire, like it may not seem, it's outta this world. Outta this world. Which is a skill. And so obviously from the game, the size, the shot, yes, there's a Klay comparison. But I think, you know, if Khan want that real Klay comparison, you gonna have to go guard the best guards, young fella. Like if you gonna want that Klay Thompson comparison, Klay would've been the guard chasing Steph Curry around. So if you want that comparison to really be it, like overall, now I'm gonna need more of that from Khan. Nonetheless, offensively, I definitely understand the comparisons. But also the way Klay Thompson could go on a heater and like just break a team spirit, I'm gonna need to see more of that from Khan. Nonetheless, the young fella does have some Klay in him. And will be a special player just like Klay. Jalen Brown has been on a mission this year, not just the last couple weeks. He has been on a mission this year. He said he's the best two-way player in the world. Playing the way he's playing offensively, we know he's a great defender. You know, KD, I would put in that category. KD, KD don't get credit for his defense, but I'm telling y'all, man, KD one of the best defenders over the last 15 years in this league. I know no one wants to say it. No, it's not the sexy thing to say, but I'm just telling y'all, when KD is locked in on that defensive end, so I gotta put KD in that category. But Jalen Brown, he's right up there. I didn't feel the— I will say when he said I'm the best two-way player in the world, I get what he was saying. But he's playing so great offensively that I don't even know if he need to talk about the best two-way player in the world. He should just be talking about who's the best player in the NBA right now. Because that's the type of basketball Jaylen Brown has been playing. He's been up there right at the top of the NBA. I'm not sure how he hasn't moved into the top 3 of MVP voting. Because if you would have told me the Boston Celtics were going to be sellers and see Jayson Tatum, their franchise player, go down with an Achilles injury and essentially say, we gonna use this next year to reset our cap, to get under the second apron so that when JT come back, we can rebuild up, which like isn't quite exactly throwing in the towel, but it's definitely not like, yo, we gonna be competing at a high level. But due to the play of Jaylen Brown, they have been competing at a very, very, very high level. And they're sitting top 4 in the East. I don't think anyone foresaw that. We knew the East was wide open, but I don't think anyone foreshadowed that the Boston Celtics would be playing this well. Yeah. So with that being the case, That has to count for something for Jaylen Brown. And he's been amazing. He didn't win Eastern Conference Player of the Month. Jaylen Brunson won it over him. You're not gonna get me to come up here and say Jaylen Brunson shouldn't have won and taking credit away from somebody who earned credit. I'm not that guy. But I do understand Jaylen Brown's frustration. Yeah. Because 7, 8, 30 straight, 30+ games straight, that's elite work. And they ain't losing. They winning a lot of these games. So I definitely understand Jaylen Brown's frustration. I think he should have been right there, if not it. But Jaylen Brunson is Jaylen Brunson. He's— Oh, he's always been playing great since he's been in New York. But man, Jaylen Brown been on a tear. And if you don't believe me, and when I say don't believe me, I'm speaking as Jaylen Brown in third person, then watch my next game where I go on the road to the Clippers and give them 50 since y'all pissed me off. Yeah. Like 55 in a 30-point win against a Clippers team that's searching. Stamp it then, Jaylen Brown. I respect it. Stamp it. Some awards to be coming soon. And it would be nice to see Jaylen Brown name jump up in that MVP conversation because that is the level that he's playing at. Also around the association, KD hits a game winner versus his former team, the Suns. He immediately goes on to say after the game that he was scapegoated in Phoenix and was kicked out. I think when I look at the KD situation in Phoenix, you kind of get to a point of where you are in the second apron. Y'all haven't quite had the success that you want to have and you kind of have to reset. That's that hard cap I have been talking to y'all about. Like it forces teams to do these things. It forces you to get rid of a guy like Kevin Durant. So when you look at Phoenix and what was going on there, if you think coming back into this year that they were gonna just come in and win with the same thing they had been doing, doesn't quite work that way. You've seen it now for a couple years. It hadn't quite worked out. You're about to get crazy tax penalties because of this dumb second apron hard cap. Yeah. And that's kind of what's going on. So you have to make a move. You have Brad on a very big salary. Brad wasn't really movable at that number. And so you end up having to go with like, who has more value? And so to me, I don't think necessarily KD was scapegoated in Phoenix, although, you know, his feelings are his feelings and I didn't live that every day, so I don't know. I'm not in their locker room, but I have a very close relationship with Matt Ishby, and what I do know is Matt Ishby love KD. So I don't think he was necessarily kicked out. I just think when you're look— when you get down to it and you're looking at that team, you have to move someone. And if you can't move Brad's salary, the next person to move is KD, because you're not gonna remove your franchise young cornerstone D book who just turned 30. The next person to move is KD. And so I think KD was actually just a casualty of war. I don't think he was necessarily kicked out because who's just kicking Kevin Durant out? It's Kevin Durant. As he told y'all, you know who I am. I'm KD. But I think he was a casualty of war. Things aren't working out. You gotta move someone that's gonna get you the biggest return. They got them Jalen— Draymond Green, it got them all-star level Dylan Brooks, and it got them the 10th pick in the draft and 5 second round picks. As a second round picks, I think those things are a little bit more valuable than people realize. And so that's kind of my take on the KD scapegoat comment. You know, the way he feel and he lived it, I don't know that it's not, but just my observation of it, I think he was just a casualty of war. Wrong place at the wrong time. And however, you know, we got KD hitting the game winner. Number one, Royce O'Neal, brother, KD is 7 feet. You give him that much space, he ain't seeing you when you shoot, when he shoot. So I thought Royce could have pressed up a little bit more. 4 seconds left, 5 seconds left. He gonna drive by you and get all the way to the cup. It should be some help there. KD got the ball. Yeah. Thought it was a little too much cushion in saying that in those moments. Senghun was out. Senghun went out with an ankle injury, that game or the game before, which then in turn led them giving the ball to KD for the last shot. I see Senghun have been taking that last shot. I think moving forward, Houston probably know for the time being who gonna be taking that last shot. 'Cause KD in those situations, stride and true. Trust me, I've seen it. The New York Knicks have lost 4 in a row. You know, a lot of people say, what's the missing piece for the Knicks to go from a good team to a championship level team? And I told y'all what I think the missing piece is many, many couple years ago. And everybody said, oh man, Draymond be hating on the Knicks. Yeah. When Draymond has no reason to hate the Knicks. I walk around sometimes, people be like, "Yo, man, why you hate my Knicks?" And I'll be like, "Yo, I don't hate your Knicks. I got no reason to hate your Knicks. Zero reasons to hate your Knicks." I've never played the Knicks in a playoff series. The New York Knicks has never done anything wrong to me. I have zero hate for the New York Knicks. None. Like, the zero— the New York Knicks didn't affect my childhood. I don't have— Yeah. Any reason at all to hate the New York Knicks. So to the New York Knicks fans out there, I'll say to you again, I have no reason to ever hate the Knicks. I do not hate the Knicks at all. I hate that when y'all win a playoff series, y'all celebrate like it's a championship and then expect y'all guys to go back out there after y'all just had a full championship parade on y'all own and go out there and compete and try to win a championship. I just, I don't personally think that's a recipe for success. But I don't hate the Knicks. I just tell the truth. And the truth is, I don't know that the Knicks have a roster to win a championship. And I've said it before, I'll say it again. I just don't know that the Knicks has a roster that's championship level. I know what a championship level roster look like. I think the Knicks has pieces that can be piece, great pieces to a championship roster. No question. But I still think the New York Knicks are missing that one piece that makes you a championship team. And that's Kevin Durant. That's Steph Curry. That's Sheik Gilgeous-Alexander. That's LeBron James. Like, that is these, like, 1A, like— They're 1A wherever they go. I think that's what the Knicks are missing. So the Knicks will continue to be a good-ass team. You look at their roster, really good team. But I just think until you got that bona fide 1A, that like, if I go here tomorrow, I'm 1A. If I go over there the next day, I'm 1A. If I go over there in 2 weeks, I am 1A. Until they have that, I just think it's gonna be very tough to win a championship. And speaking on the Knicks, the Knicks' most hated villain, Draymond Green, is working on a trade. He and the Hawks have mutually agreed for them to work on a trade partner. I think we've kind of all seen this coming down the pipe. The success of Jalen Johnson with Dray out definitely probably sped up the process. When you got a young star like Jalen Johnson averaging triple-double over his last 12 games, and y'all winning games, he's playing at the level he playing at, you usually turn the roster, turn the keys over to him. You give him the keys. And that's what Atlanta's done. So Trae Young will more than likely be on the move in the next 9 days. And it'll be interesting to see where Trae Young land. There's a lot of speculation that Washington is the front runner to land Trae Young. Not quite one that I really understood. I can't imagine that that would be Trae's first pick either, but I'm not sure he's in the position to where his first pick is gonna play a huge role in where he goes. I think this is a situation where the Hawks won't screw him over, but I think they're also gonna do the best deal for them. That's just my opinion on it. But, you know, I think Trae has had a great run in Atlanta. Historical run in Atlanta with the numbers that he's put up over his tenure there. But I think a fresh start is needed for him. I think a fresh start is needed for Atlanta. I think we'll start, you know, once Trae Young is traded, depending on the situation where he go, I think we'll start to see the Trae Young that we've all grown to know. You know, but fresh starts are needed sometimes. And I think in this case is needed on both sides. And I think they both welcome it as is the— Yeah. Willingness to work on a trade partner. So we'll see how that shakes out over the next two weeks, week. And we'll go from there. Appreciate you all for tuning in to the Draymond Green Show. Can't thank you enough. We got Milwaukee coming up and then the Kings on Friday. Friday morning we'll be dropping another episode, the second edition of the monthly Draymond Green Awards. And I have a spoiler, Jaylen Brown might be on there. Oh. Deuces. If you're rocking with the Draymond Green Show, be sure to click follow on your favorite podcast app. And while you're there, go ahead and drop a 5-star rating and leave a review. I wanna hear what you think, and it would also mean a ton to me if you share it with a friend that you think would enjoy it. Let's keep this thing growing. The Draymond Green Show is presented by Audacy and executive produced in conjunction with The New Media. Our executive producers are Leah Reese Dennis, Danny Friesinger, and Greg Holtzman. Video production and creative design by Curt Courtney, Tim Meekle, Lauren Vieira, and Evan O'Brien. Special thanks to the team at The New Media and the team at Audacy. Maura Curran, Josephina Francis, Hillary Shuff, Eric Donnelly, Kate Rose, Colin Gaynor, and Jake Gally. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]