Warriors' Bold Plan to Acquire Two All-Star Wings Foiled by Clippers, Danny Ainge

The Warriors had grand machinations in place for the offseason

The Warriors had grand machinations in place for the offseason. / John Hefti-Imagn Images

The Golden State Warriors underwent an offseason of great change over the summer, watching Klay Thompson walk in free agency to the Dallas Mavericks and replacing him with a trio consisting of Buddy Hield, De'Anthony Melton, and Kyle Anderson. It was a fairly significant roster upheaval for the NBA's most recent dynasty, but if things had gone according to plan, the Dubs would have gone even bigger with their moves.

In a lengthy piece published to The Athletic on Tuesday, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green revealed to reporter Anthony Slater that Golden State GM Mike Dunleavy went into the offseason with the aim of acquiring not one, but two All-Star wings: Paul George and Lauri Markkanen. It would have been a dramatic coup and one that would have undoubtedly rocketed the Warriors to true contenders rather than hopefuls.

Why didn't it happen? Green, a multi-time Defensive Player of the Year, blamed the Los Angeles Clippers and Danny Ainge, the longtime Boston Celtics GM who is now helping make decisions for the Utah Jazz.

“He was very persistent (in) making the date work,” Green said of Dunleavy's pursuit of George. “He did the job. Paul George wanted to come here. So shoutout to Mike. The Clippers just wouldn’t do (an opt-in and trade).”

"“The conversation was always about that possibility,” he later continued on trying to land Markkanen. “You get both of those guys, you make a huge splash. But the Clippers weren’t really willing to play ball. Then Danny Ainge was being Danny Ainge.”

A Core 4 of Curry, Green, George, and Markkanen would have been excellent on both sides of the ball. More importantly it would give Curry a legit shot at another title as he enters his age-36 season; the Olympics showed the superstar still has plenty left to give in the games that matter most. Those are the sorts of moves GMs are supposed to make when they're trying to maximize the final years of a generational talent.

But it didn't pan out thanks to those meddling Clippers and Ainge, nicknamed "Trader Danny" for his hardline negotiations in the past. The rest of the NBA may thank them for it, but Green clearly won't.

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