Green rare difference-maker
Forward foregoes points in lieu of organizing defense and dishing assists
SAN FRANCISCO — On multiple occasions during the Warriors’ recent backto-back set in New Orleans, Zion Williamson asked Draymond Green nuanced basketball questions: How did you break up that play? What allows you to be physical without fouling?
Never mind that Green was defending Williamson. Though already an NBA All-Star at age 20, the Pelicans forward is eager to learn from the league’s smartest elder statesmen. Perhaps no player has a higher basketball IQ than Green, who, in going from second-round afterthought to potential Hall of Famer, relied on uncanny court awareness and timing.
He might be as gifted as anyone in league history at processing the action unfolding around him and, within a fraction of a second, making the exact right decision. The Warriors have been outscored by eight total points this season, but they’ve outscored opponents by 173 points in Green’s 1,807 minutes.
What makes his game so hard to quantify for some, is that Green doesn’t need to shoot to help his team win. His 5.9 field-goal attempts per game this season are on pace to be his fewest since he averaged 5.6 in 2013-14, his second year in the league.
Green, 31, is content to focus on what he does best: ratchet up the pace, organize the defense, make life difficult on the opponent’s best player and find open shooters — particularly guard Stephen Curry. Green’s season totals of 387 points, 506 assists and 410 rebounds have him on the verge of becoming the first player in NBA history with at least 200 points to finish with more assists and rebounds than points.
In a career loaded with statistical oddities, no other feat better illustrates why Green might be the league’s most unique player. At a time when NBA superstars often quarrel over shot attempts, Green is an anomaly — the rare difference-maker who openly shuns scoring, prides himself on plays that won’t make the postgame highlight reel and who sometimes needs to be talked into taking wide-open shots.
He is tied for seventh on the Warriors in scoring (6.7 points per game), but is first in rebounds (7.1), assists (8.7) and steals (1.7). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Green’s seven 15-assist games this season are the most by a nonguard in NBA history.
Though Curry deserves plenty of credit for an offensive season that rivals his unanimous MVP campaign in 2015-16, he recognizes that he wouldn’t be averaging a league-best 31.5 points on 48.5 percent shooting (42.6 percent from 3-point range) without Green. The 170 assists Green has dished to Curry are by far the most between two players in the league. In second place is Suns guard Chris Paul, who has assisted center Deandre Ayton on 135 field goals.
“When he gets in a groove like that where he’s getting everybody involved and having a Draymondtype night where scoring’s not really the differencemaker, it’s the way that he does the intangibles,” Curry said after Green posted a career-high 19 assists in an April 23 win over the Nuggets. “He’s the smartest basketball player I’ve played with.”
Green finished Tuesday’s 108-103 loss to the Pelicans just three points and one assist shy of his sixth triple-double this season, but his effect on the game went beyond the box score. With Curry toiling through a rare shooting slump, Green did all he could to will the Warriors down the stretch, hitting an open 3-pointer, finding Kent Bazemore for a corner 3-pointer, driving through the key for a layup and ripping the ball away from Williamson on a postup.
Those key late baskets from Green reinforced that he can score when necessary. His longtime trainer, Travis Walton, hasn’t made any major changes to Green’s shot since Green averaged 14 points on 49 percent shooting (38.8 percent from 3-point range) during the 2015-16 season.
But what makes Green special is his insistence on making the prudent play, not the flashy one. As he nears the end of his ninth NBA season, he is at peace with being an elite role player whose greatness surfaces in how he maintains the proper stance to contest a shot, makes lowangle leading passes to a cutting Curry and sets textbook screens to free teammates up for open looks.
“Draymond is amazing,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “Night after night, he’s playing at such a high level at both ends of the floor.”
Those who’ve worked closely with Green believe he is at the peak of his powers, which is saying a lot for someone who already helped usher in the NBA’s position-less brand of basketball, built a reputation as the “heartbeat” of a dynasty and cemented his status as one of the great defenders in league history. Along the way, Green has become a trusted mentor — not just to his teammates, but to young opponents intent on learning from a hardwood savant.
This week, when Williamson peppered Green with questions mid-game, Green did something that runs counter to traditional gamesmanship: He offered Williamson insight into how he was stopping Williamson.
“I got a lot of respect for him,” Williamson said. “He’s physical with IQ. A lot of people don’t do that, but he does.”