Draymond Green sheds light on Warriors' inactivity on the trade market

The Golden State Warriors started the season strong. Steve Kerr's 12-man rotation allowed the team to play with intensity on both sides of the floor while keeping the rotation fresh. However, as the season has worn on, Golden State's inability to stack wins has become prevalent. 

Following the 104-101 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Monday, the Warriors occupy the 12th seed in the Western Conference. If things don't improve, Stephen Curry and the Warriors will miss out on the playoffs for the second straight season. 

Over the past few years, the Warriors have been straddling two developmental timelines, focusing on building for the future while maximizing Curry and Draymond Green's final years. During a postgame news conference on Monday, Green noted how the Warriors have been smart in their decision-making, noting that mortgaging the franchise's future for a playoff push isn't wise.

“The beautiful part about being in the space that we're in is, Steve Kerr, Steph Curry and myself all disagree with mortgaging off the future of this organization, saying that we're going for it right now," Green said, via Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo! Sports. "Bad teams do that. Bad organizations do that. We're not neither one...So for us, if something is going to happen, it needs to be the right thing. We're not going to jump and make the wrong decision because we panicked. That's how you set your organization back five to seven years.”

Green is right. Mortgaging the franchise's future would be a bad decision unless it would guarantee another championship. Kevin Durant or LeBron James would have to walk through the door to justify parting with Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski. 

However, if the Warriors don't envision a legitimate path back to contention, they should seriously consider allowing Green and Curry to move on. Both players have given their all to the franchise and deserve the right to remain competitive during the final years of their careers. Furthermore, that decision, however tough it would be, could allow the Warriors to fully embrace a new timeline. 

Green and Curry are remaining professional, but these losses will eat at them. Golden State is right to prioritize the future, but that doesn't mean its two veteran stars deserve to be dragged along for the ride.