Draymond Green Ranted About the Double Standard Players Face When it Comes to Trades

The Golden State Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 129-98, on Monday night. The Cavaliers were without Andre Drummond, who they announced would sit while the team looks for a trade partner. After the game, Draymond Green spoke about Drummond's situation as well as James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Harrison Barnes, DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis.

Green isn't the first person to point out the hypocrisy when it comes to players getting traded versus players who want a trade, but he might be the first one to present the argument so passionately. This is probably the next step in the player empowerment movement and it will be the toughest thing to attain.

No matter what, there are only a certain number of spots on each team. Somebody has to be in a less-than-ideal situation. Coaches' and general managers' jobs depend on which players are there and how well they play. Wanting out of Houston is understandable for Harden, but that screws over Rockets coach Stephen Silas. The Rockets front office had to figure out a trade and now they have to do something with those assets or they could be looking for new jobs. And above all that is a billionaire owner who somehow has a very vocal group of fans taking his side in this whole situation.

Green just wants players to be treated with the same understanding that teams are when they decide it's time to move on from a player. At what point in a career does a player go from an asset to a person? Who knows how long it will take to figure that out, but the only way to get there is for guys like Draymond to talk about it.

Maybe the most powerful part of Green's comment is the fact that he did not need to say this. It has nothing to do with his team. So first it will be interesting to see if he gets fined. Then we will see if others want to follow suit, because what Draymond said was for the benefit of the entire league.