Draymond Green in the middle? Warriors must keep their balance

On December 1, 2024By Littum

PHOENIX — The IX’s and O’s department is perhaps the biggest pendulum swing for the Warriors, how much to play Draymond Green with or without a center next to him.

Green and head coach Steve Kerr prefer to play either Trayce Jackson-Davis or Kevon Looney with Green for the majority of his minutes. It protects the 34-year-old from the physical demands of boxing out and working for positioning against bigger, often stronger tasks. The setup also helps defensively, allowing Green to roam as a help defender instead of being locked into the other team’s center.

But playing Green at the five creates vastly different spaces for the Warriors, which is especially beneficial for Jonathan Kuminga. Historically, Golden State has used Green at center in major areas, including closing plays, lightning-quick team speed, athleticism and Green’s generational defensive acumen. They’ve implemented the look in more than half of Green’s minutes this year.

The Warriors have started Green next to Jackson-Davis almost every game this season; the exception being their most recent contest against the smaller Thunder, where Green started with Kuminga playing power forward alongside him. The balance, on paper, comes down to how important it is to optimize the Kuminga’s downhill ability versus how many miles they can afford to ride on the Green.

“I’ve never been a guy that won’t do what a team needs,” Green said after the Thunder loss. “I’m proud to be who the team needs me to be.”

The Suns, Golden State’s opponent on Saturday, happen to have a similar problem. Because Jusuf Nurkic’s viability fluctuates based on certain matchups, Phoenix has played Kevin Durant — especially not a center — 10% of his minutes in the five. That won’t be an issue on Saturday, with Nurkic (quad) ruled out.

But the Warriors’ conundrum seems more pressing given how central it is to their identity.

Green has played 53% of his minutes at center, per Cleaning The Glass. As the eye test suggests, Golden State has been better in these situations, but only slightly. They are +10 per 100 possessions with Green at the four compared to +11.3 when he plays center.

By all accounts, the Warriors are in line to continue to start Green at power forward.

“I’m a big believer in Draymond playing the five, but limited minutes,” Kerr said. “I think we’re in a really good place with Trayce and Draymond starting and letting Draymond play the four. And then I like to get to Draymond at the five in the game, whether it’s 10, 15 minutes. I think it makes a lot of sense and a really powerful lineup for us, especially with JK on the four.

The Warriors’ current starting lineup of Steph Curry, Lindy Waters III, Andrew Wiggins, Green and Jackson-Davis has outscored opponents by 11.1 points per 100 possessions. It was even better with De’Anthony Melton – who is out for the season with an ACL sprain – at shooting guard, but the core four looks sustainable.

Last year, Green played a career-high 70% of his minutes at center, but that was mostly out of necessity; The Dario Saric experiment failed and Kevon Looney had a poor season, leaving Green as the top option and a rookie Jackson-Davis as his backup.

The move coincided with Golden State’s strong second half, but it wasn’t comfortable.

“I don’t think it’s a wise choice during the year,” Kerr said.

While unlocking Kuminga is certainly important, especially since Golden State has struggled offensively during its current three-game losing streak entering Saturday’s game, keeping Green healthy is the ultimate priority. The Warriors are 6.1 points per 100 possessions better with Green on the court than when he sits, regardless of position. He’s had a great start to the season and the Warriors need him healthy to continue.

Playing him more in the middle would not be a step towards achieving that. Boxing out centers and taking punishment on screens, in transition and on post-ups adds up. Guarding Nurkic, Isaiah Hartenstein, Nikola Jokic, Rudy Gobert, Anthony Davis and Ivica Zubac come with bumps and bruises.

“It’s a big difference physically,” Looney said. “You play against the five man, it’s always going to be the biggest guy on the field. He’s always going to be the one hitting you every time. You’re in every action.”

With Curry and Green, the Warriors are learning to navigate the health of aging stars.

In terms of health, the status quo works for the Greens. It’s helpful that, unlike last year, the Warriors have more options.

“I play the five,” Looney said. “We have Trayce. Draymond plays some, Kyle (Anderon) plays some. So we have bodies. I think it’s just about what look Steve wants. Sometimes when he wants to play faster and go small, Draymond is perfect to it. He’s been great at it his whole career.”

Remarkable

– The Suns ruled out both Bradley Beal (left calf) and Nurkic before their game against the Warriors.

“They have talented reserves, so we just have to adjust to the other personnel,” Kerr said.

– Since Suns superstar Kevin Durant left the Warriors, Kerr has coached him in two different Olympic broadcasts. It was clear by the end of Durant’s tenure with Golden State that he was “ready to move on and take on another challenge,” Kerr said.

“We would have loved to have kept him forever, but it wasn’t meant to be.”

— Both Andrew Wiggins and Steph Curry warmed up at Footprint Center expecting to play. They were each listed on the official injury report as questionable.