Assist outlook: Could Green eventually hold franchise record?

Stephen Curry is 49 assists away from passing Guy Rodgers atop the Warriors’ alltime list, and the wildest response to that declarative sentence might be: Draymond Green eventually could eclipse Curry.

This might not be that outlandish of an idea.

Although Green has only 3,066 career assists, and Curry’s 4,807 are chasing Rodgers’ 4,855, the Warriors’ power forward/center is dishing out scoring passes at such a remarkable pace that he actually could be on top in about a decade.

If Green remains at his 202021 season average for assists (8.1), he would pass Curry (6.2) in 2032 if both played 82game seasons for the Warriors to that point. That date could arrive sooner, given Green is two years younger and his assists are increasing while Curry’s are declining.

Banging with bigger bodies than his frame and logging major minutes in five NBA Finals runs, Green probably won’t play until he’s 41. But he’ll certainly change the game in the meantime.

The Warriors play basically an inverse style of traditional basketball, with their biggest player (Green) initiating the offense and their smallest player (Curry) often on the receiving end of those passes. Defenses are hardly even guarding Green these days as he offers almost zero threat to shoot.

Green attempts only 6.7 shots per 36 minutes. Among the league’s leaders in assists through Saturday, the next player who attempts fewer than seven shots per 36 minutes is Toronto’s Stanley Johnson, who takes 6 shots and dishes out 3.5 assists (good for 91st place).

But Green has seemingly adjusted to opponents’ adjustment.

With opposing defenses sagging off his shot, Green simply gives the ball back to Curry and sets a screen. With Curry’s primary defender wiped out of the play and Green’s defender dropping off the coverage, the world’s bestever shooter has the space he needs.

That sequence has unfolded over and over in February, about two weeks after Green said he was two weeks away from being healthy after missing the preseason and first four games.

Before Saturday’s three-assist game at Charlotte, Green had dished out at least eight assists in 11 straight starts — the Warriors’ best run of such games since Baron Davis did so in 2005.

Last Monday, Green tied his career high with 16 assists to become the first player to have 86 in a sevengame span while starting at center since the NBA starting tracking the numbers in 197071, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“Guys are finding open spots, and I’m trying to get them the ball,” Green said.