Draymond Green shares what he likes about Warriors' trade for Kristaps Porzingis

Warriors forward Draymond Green speaks to reporters after Golden State's 101-97 win over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday at Mortgage Matchup Center.

Draymond Green shares what he likes about Warriors' trade for Kristaps Porzingis originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

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Draymond, how would you describe the tenor of the last 24 hours culminating with you playing tonight?

it's been a weird 24 hours.

you know, everybody kind of just sitting on the edge with the trade deadline.

but, you know, and then obviously the trade, you lose two guys that you got relationships with, three guys actually, that you have relationships with.

but that is the business that we're in.

you know, shorthanded.

Came out tonight down with 14 in the fourth quarter, guys continued to fight and come out with a big time win after a long week.

says a lot about the character of the group.

At what point did you know that you were still gonna be on this team through the deadline?

till today at 1, Phoenix time.

That's probably a new experience for you.

I know you've talked about it a little bit.

how nerve-wracking was that?

it got nerve-wracking towards the end.

but yeah, it is what it is, you know?

move forward.

It's not something I want to get used to, though, so Draymond, did you talk to Mike?

Yeah.

What was the message that he conveyed to you?

we just talked some trade stuff.

We talked about possible trade, we talked about other stuff that could happen.

yeah.

What, what do you think about Porziis the opportunity to play with him?

I like it.

you know, just adding more size, more rim protection, more shooting.

Porziis, s- switch guards on him, he really punishes them.

does a great job of that.

He was the missing piece to a Boston championship.

you know, when he was with that team, they were really, really tough to beat, you know?

So, you know, hoping he can bring some of that here, but I like it.

I think it'll be a great fit.

How do you see yourself fitting next to him defensively?

How do you guys complement each other?

well, you know, for me personally, I love when, you know, there's s- another rim protector on the floor, 'cause then I could You know, stuff that I see, I can act on it.

You know, when, when I'm, when I'm the only rim protector, stuff that I see and may want to act on, you can't do that 'cause you just leave the rim.

It's, it's kind of like a You watch football?

You don't watch no football.

I do watch football.

You watch foot- who your team?

Vikings.

Oh, y'all, they never won.

Um- ... Yeah.

No, but, you know, there's great defensive ends, and then there's defensive ends that, that don't, don't stick to their assignment, they just want the sack.

You know, and you run the ball right in the gap that they left because they just shot up field trying to get a sack.

It's kind of like that with rim protection.

You know, if you just take off because you see something, all of a sudden it don't work.

Then you got no rim protection, and you just broke contain, you just broke the scheme, because of something that you saw or that you wanted to do.

When there's another rim protector out there, you can take those chances, you know?

And so I, I've always enjoyed playing, with another rim protector on the floor.

I just think it really unlocks everything that I can do defensively.

Draymond, you called him, like, the secret, you know, the, the, the extra weapon to Boston for their championship.

What made him kind of that extra piece, and how do you see him fitting with Al as well, too?

Oh, well, you know, they were together.

but both of those guys are smart.

They can both shoot.

both can protect the rim, guard smaller guys, guard bigger guys.

and so I, I think that's beneficial.

How, you know, how he was great, with Celtics was, you know, they had a ton of shooting.

And so if you switched and, and you switched somebody on him, they just throw him the ball.

and he- you can't help because they're- he's just kicking it out to shooters, and they're, they're, they're launching threes, you know?

And so I think for us to have that weapon, especially with Jimmy going out, it's You know, Jimmy, you switch on Jimmy, we throw Jimmy the ball, it's, it's over, you know?

And so with Jimmy being out, to, you know, add someone that you can do that to in a different way, like obviously him and Jimmy are two totally different players, but that thing in particular, to add someone that, you know, they get to switching and you can throw it in there and punish them, that, that, that changes an offense.

What are you hoping Jonathan takes away from his experience here to Atlanta?

number one, I hope that we've been good vets to him and taught him how to be a pro.

I think that's first and foremost.

you know, you, you hope that what he walked away with was, regardless of how all of it went down, "The guys whose wing I was under showed me the right way."

and then I, you know, I hope that he, you know, in, in going there, that he relishes the opportunity.

You know, I think he's going to an organization Saw a coach's comments, maybe today or yesterday, I don't know when they were, but I saw 'em today, where he was just saying like, yeah, he didn't get a chance to make many mistakes, 'cause we're trying to win.

That's always been kind of the tough part about young guys and trying to win, you know?

If, like, you come into this league, you have to make mistakes to learn.

But when you're with a group that's trying to compete for championships, you don't always get that leash.

And I think he'll get a little more of that now.

And, and, and the same mistakes he was making two, three years ago, he don't make now, you know?

But- again, if you haven't quite just had the opportunity to let all of it run its course, then you're still somewhere along that process, you know?

And so, you know, so I hope, like I said, I hope that's what he takes away from it, and most importantly, I hope he be- you know, go and become the player that we all thought he'd become here.

The situation obviously is what it is with Jimmy and every kind of roster ramification that's going on in place.

You guys have set the standard for so long.

What are your expectations for the rest of this year?

to, to win games.

try to gives our- give ourselves a shot at a playoff spot.

And when you get in the playoffs, I guarantee you ain't have us picked to win in 2022 when we got in the playoffs.

I, I The reason I laughed was in part because you said at the beginning of the year, there was no chance in hell you were close to a title.

I agree.

And then the playoffs started, and you won a title.

Yeah, it changed.

I told y'all, I called my friend a- after the first game of the playoffs.

I said, "Danny, we're going to win the championship."

I didn't think so either.

so I said all I had to say, you just need a chance.

You know, if you, you give yourself a shot at it, we know how to do it, you know?

And I think that's a skill that probably ninety-seven percent of the NBA does not have, is they don't know how to do it.

We actually know how, you know, and so we just want to give ourselves a shot at it.

We gave ourselves a shot at it last year.

You know, Steph don't go down, who knows what happened, you know?

So we just want to give ourselves a chance.

So that's, that's the goal for the rest of this year.

Are you relishing the idea that everybody's written you guys off?

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Who?

The people that don't be knowing what the hell they talking about?

Yes.

th- those are the same people that said we would have never won 'cause we shot too many jump shots and, you know, I was too small, and everybody else was too small.

Those same people?

... Oh, man.

Perfect.

I'm gonna keep it PG.

I ain't gonna even say nothing wild today.

Yeah.

Yeah, those people.

Good stuff.

All right, well- Draymond, how would you describe Guy Santos impacting the last few games and the potential moving forward?

I think we're starting to see him grow each and every game.

And with that growth, he's getting more and more opportunity.

You know, Steve called a couple pick and rolls for him today, and he made the plays.

You know, like, the energy You know, he start- One thing I love about Guy Santos is, on my journey in the NBA, I had to figure out what it was that was gonna get me on the floor.

And what it was ultimately to give me a chance on the floor was defense, and so I locked in on that.

Like, that's my path on the floor.

Guy Santos' path on the floor was hustle plays and offensive rebounds, and he locked in on that, and he's become one of the best offensive rebounders in the, in the NBA, especially wing crashers.

You know, guy crashing from the wing, getting offensive rebound.

And in turn, once you've done that, then you earn the minutes, and you can show everything else that you're able to do.

And that's where he is.

It's like he's now stamped himself as, I guarantee you, on every scouting report in the NBA, they're talking about him crashing.

But that's what got him on the floor, and now you're able to see what he can do with the ball, how he can shoot the ball, how he can finish around the rim.

Defensively, just hard-nosed Brazilian.

it's beautiful to watch.

I, I'm such a fan of his growth.

Thirty-six minutes tonight, and without him, we stand no chance of winning this game, like So I'm, I'm gonna continue to enjoy watching his growth and him carry us to wins.

I love it.

It's great.

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