Draymond Green is a player who has improved as a player over the past few years and he has helped the Golden State Warriors become a title contender. He has become their best defensive player and is in the running for DPOY this year. Although he has been playing well for the Warriors, the question here is whether he is a very good system player or a star who can lead a team.
Last season, he scored 14 points while hauling in 9.5 rebounds and dishing out 7.4 assists in 34.7 minutes per game. He was an all star, on the all-defensive team and on an all-NBA team last season. This season, he is averaging 10.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 7 assists in 32.5 minutes. His points, rebounds, and minutes are going down due to the addition of Kevin Durant. Draymond has scored less so that Durant could get his shots and touches on the offensive end and his usage rate is going down from 18.8% last year to 16.2% this year.
Many people think that his stats are eye popping and that he is a star player. Before he had been in the NBA, he had won the Big Ten POY and the NABC POY in his senior year in college. In that season, he also averaged 16.2 points while hauling in 10.6 rebounds and dishing out 3.8 assists in 33.2 minutes per game. He had lead them to the national championship and dominated the march madness tournament. He had put his attitude aside and lead his team that season.
He is a valuable player because of his affect towards the Warriors. This is shown because last season, the team had outscored opponents by 18.3 points when he was on the court but were outscored by 7.3 points when he was off the court thus boosting their offensive rating by 25.6 points on the court. That put them for first in the league last year. This year, he has an overall net rating of 15.9, which is better than LeBron James, in which he has a net rating of 7.7 for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He is a locker room influence for the Warriors and tries to fire them up before the big games. So far in these playoffs, he averages 14.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 7.2 assists in 35 minutes per game. On the defensive end, he has averaged a staggering 3.8 blocks per game so far in these playoffs. He has taken the role as the team’s captain and has the ability to be a leader and the alpha dog of his team. Players like him are necessary when teams are competing for a championship.
He is considered by the fans a star because he is on the media a lot and is also on the best team in the NBA. He also has the advanced statistics to back it up. The knock against Draymond Green is the lack of ability to score as much as the other stars. Lebron put up 26.4 points while out rebounding and dishing more assists than Draymond. Also he isn’t able to carry the team on his own because majority of his points come from catch and shoot plays and they are assisted by good movement of the ball from the Warriors. He also mainly has the ball in his hands so that the Warriors offense is spaced out on the perimeter and not trying to create a shot for himself. He only attempts 8.6 shots and makes 3.6 for those shots per game. He hasn’t demonstrated the ability to create his own shot and have a go to move to the bucket when necessary compared to guys like Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony.
He is put into the Warriors system and is able to thrive and evolve into the player that he is today. He might not be able to create his own shot but some players aren’t meant to play that way or ever asked to do so throughout their careers. His playing style is to be the “point forward” for the Warriors and also pick and pop with guys like Stephen Curry handling the ball and kick it out to him for the open shot. His play style is a type of style that would only work for great teams and the system that the Warriors have is perfect for Draymond Green to be able to thrive in.