West Notes: Kings, Draymond Green, Grizzlies, Blazers, Scoot Henderson

Kings

The Kings very well could make a run at forward Draymond Green, though it would be a major surprise if he didn’t return to the Warriors, per Marc Stein of The Stein Line and as we relayed here.

Green, of course, played for Kings coach Mike Brown when Brown was an assistant with Steve Kerr and the Warriors.

The Kings also may have created at least $33 million in salary-cap space in a draft night trade that sent center Richaun Holmes to the Mavericks.

Meanwhile, Green declined his $26.7 million player option to become an unrestricted free agent. Still, most predict he will return to Golden State — and Green himself has said he wants to retire with the franchise.

Grizzlies

• The Grizzlies were among those who intended to pursue Green in free agency, though those thoughts ended after the team acquired guard Marcus Smart in a trade with the Celtics, per Stein.
• The addition of Smart also makes it obvious that the Grizzlies truly do not intend to re-sign forward Dillon Brooks, Stein added.

Trail Blazers

No. 3 overall pick Scoot Henderson indicated that the Trail Blazers are the perfect team for him.

“I feel like Portland was the best situation for me,” Henderson said, Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. “[Former Ignite teammate] Pooh Jeter is there right now with the G League and stuff like that, and then me texting Dame two years ago. It all came full circle.”

Henderson added he’s excited to play with star guard Damian Lillard.

“I think it would be great just to learn from him, just to sit back and really observe a great player,” Henderson said of Lillard. “Especially just being that close to him and going there. Especially just the guard he was coming into the league and how he was fearless. Fearless of anybody. And how he kind of came in and impacted the game at a high level. Yeah, just to learn from that, it would be great.”

• Blazers GM Joe Cronin defended the decision to draft Henderson as opposed to trading the pick. “I would say we made the biggest move possible by drafting Scoot Henderson,” Cronin said. “He’s going to be better than any player that would maybe be perceived as that big move.”