Draymond Green defends Chet Holmgren against trade rumours
Chet Holmgren had a tough series against Victor Wembanyama in the conference finals, and before it was even over, trade talk started to pick up. But Draymond Green isn’t having any of it, and he actually makes a stronger case than his reputation as a critic might suggest.
“Chet was just second in Defensive Player of the Year voting, All-Defence First Team, All-NBA Third Team, All-Star, and he had a bad playoff series, and everybody likes the time to trade him.”
Holmgren managed just four points in Game 7, hitting 27.3% of his threes, and was completely neutralised by Wembanyama. But it’s important to remember that Wembanyama has a habit of doing that to everyone he faces.
He’s a 7-foot-4 force with no real comparison, and using the one opponent uniquely designed to counter Holmgren’s strengths as proof that he’s suddenly flawed is a stretch. A player who led one of the league’s top defences all season doesn’t suddenly forget how to play over the course of one series.
OKC doesn’t have a depth problem; it has a visibility problem
Williams and Mitchell missed the series, leaving SGA to run the offence on his own, while Holmgren had to take on more responsibility. But that wasn’t a good reason to pin everything on Holmgren when it was a roster issue from the start.
The value in sticking with Holmgren isn’t complicated. OKC’s cap sheet is clean; they don’t need another creator with Williams and Mitchell healthy, and Holmgren can defend the Wembanyamas of the world better than anyone else available.
He’s not a fix; he’s already part of the core. Good franchises know when to keep their trust. Draymond Green should know — he came up through one.
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