It may be time for the Golden State Warriors to answer some hard questions about Draymond Green before it all blows up in their face.
For over a decade across the 2010s and 2020s, the most dominant team in the NBA was the Golden State Warriors. Led by possibly the greatest pure shooter in the history of the game, Stephen Curry, the Warriors won four championships, seven conference titles, and 12 division titles. But Steph wasn't the only guy on the floor for all those wins.
Names like Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, and Draymond Green played huge roles in those championship victories. Admittedly, Durant was only there for two titles before parting ways with the franchise, but he was there nonetheless.
Things have changed in Golden State since 2022. Klay and many other parts of that dominant team are gone, leaving Coach Steve Kerr trying to rebuild around Steph Curry and Draymond Green. Despite all the good that he's done for the franchise, it might be time for the Warriors to ask if Draymond Green is part of that rebuild or if he's holding it back.
Draymond Green's defense won championships
The man deserves his flowers. In his prime, Draymond might be one of the greatest defensive players the league has ever seen. He could lock pretty much anyone and everyone up. His offense has always been hit or miss, but it's impossible to deny the quality of his defensive play. Draymond is, by his very nature, a disruptor.
Draymond was named the Defensive Player of the Year in 2017 and was the steals leader that same year. He's a four-time NBA All-Star, was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team four times, and was named another four times to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. And, yes, those accolades do line up with his four NBA Championships, proving Draymond Green's defense wins titles.
Beyond the box scores and stats, Draymond has always been a highly energetic and aggressive presence on the court. He plays hard and talks a lot of trash, both of which throw opponents off their game. In more recent years, that same mentality has increasingly become a detriment to the Warriors' championship goals rather than leading to titles.
The Warriors without Draymond Green?
It sounds like heresy, but it might be time for the Golden State Warriors to look to a future without Draymond. He racks up costly technical fouls and flagrant fouls at an alarming rate, which has proved to be costly to the Warriors in the last couple of postseasons. During the 2023-24 season, the NBA suspended Green so he could get anger management after a series of violent on-court incidents.
Like everyone else, Draymond has lost a step or two with age. Still, his defense remains solid. That only matters when he's on the floor, though. Green has the second-most career ejections behind Rasheed Wallace. Even if he's not ejected, he spends a lot of time on the bench in foul trouble.
Draymond has been known to complain that he's a victim of his own reputation, that questionable foul calls go against him because he is Draymond Green. He's not wrong. At the same time, he's earned that reputation thanks to years of stepping well over the line of what physicality is allowed in the NBA. He has cost himself the benefit of the doubt with NBA officials. At the same time, there are many in the NBA who say he isn't being called enough.
Even with Jimmy Butler on the roster, the era of dominance under Steph Curry for the Warriors is over. The championship window is closed and locked. It's time to plan for the future. With his on-court value on the decline and his reputation unlikely to improve, it's well past time the Warriors got out of the Draymond Green business.