With his involvement in NBA draft, Draymond Green showing he could be a future general manager.
Star forward ‘completely engaged’ while following team’s draft process
OAKLAND >> The Warriors spent nearly three years evaluating Cincinnati guard/forward Jacob Evans III. They watched his games in person. They further analyzed his performances on video. They held two pre-draft workouts. They ran background checks and interviewed him.
Once the Warriors selected Evans with the No. 28 pick of the 2018 NBA draft on Thursday, they heard a person in the team’s draft room utter six words that validated their extensive research. It also provided another window into Draymond Green’s opinionated and curious nature.
“This kid knows how to play,” Green told Warriors general manager Bob Myers.
Green had spent the past week watching the Warriors’ pre-draft workouts at the practice facility. He then joined the Warriors’ front office along with CEO Joe Lacob and coach Steve Kerr in the team’s draft room on Thursday. Not surprisingly during both experiences, Green shared his unfiltered opinion of college basketball players he has watched. During that time, Green told Myers that he liked Evans’ defensive intensity. And shortly after the Warriors selected Evans, Green spoke with Evans on the phone and told him, “You better be bringing it.”
“It was too much,” Warriors assistant general manager Larry Harris joked about Green’s presence. “We didn’t invite him back next year. We’re going to bring another (player).”
After the joking and laughter subsided, the Warriors entertained a serious question. With Green channeling his competitiveness, basketball smarts and versatility into three NBA championships and three NBA All-Star selections, could the No. 35 pick of the 2012 draft ever excel as a front office executive?
“He can do whatever he wants, I imagine,” Myers said. “He could be in the media. He could be a GM, a coach.
He’s just a winner. It’s just a skill. It’s his whole life. He just wins. So I imagine he would be good.”
What the Warriors’ front office appreciated: Green did not carry any pretense that he could easily do their job.
Green did not tell them who to draft. Green did not question their talent evaluations. And shortly after leaving the Warriors’ facility on draft night, Green texted to Myers, “I really appreciate having watched the process and what goes into it.”
“He was at least respectful of the process of how not only our team, but every team goes about this and the work you put into it,” Myers said.
Green had wanted to see that process up close a year after Warriors forward Kevin Durant did the same last year. Then, the Warriors paid the Chicago Bulls about $3.5 million for the rights to the No. 38 pick, which was used on forward Jordan Bell.
Green asked the Warriors if he could attend the team’s pre-draft workouts last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. They happily obliged. So Green often sat next to Lacob and talked during the workouts. He provided his own observations during and after them, too, including Evans’ workout on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, Green sat in the team’s draft room.
He saw how three years’ worth of talent evaluation crystallized the Warriors’ intrigue about Evans’ defensive intensity, positional versatility and dependable outside shooting. He participated in the agony and
excitement surrounding potential prospects being plucked off the board. He heard the flurry of phone calls the Warriors made and received amid their unsuccessful quest to buy a second-round pick.
Shortly after the Warriors selected Evans, Kerr, Green and Lacob all talked with him in separate phone conversations. As Harris observed, “Draymond was truly engaged in the process.”
“He was never on his phone,” Harris said. “He never had his phone around. It wasn’t like he’s bored or whatever. He was completely engaged, had opinions, and he was listening.”
So much so that Green apparently told Myers without any prompting that he will dial back his intensity that led to 15 technicals in the 2017-18 season, which ranked second in the NBA behind Dwight Howard (17).
“He said he’s going to be a better human being now. He said he’s going to tone it down, too. So we’ll see,” Myers said, chuckling. “I don’t know why he said that. But he said he’s going to be better. So we’ll see.”
The Warriors also saw Green become sentimental. Warriors assistant general manager Kirk Lacob had forewarned Evans: “Draymond wants to talk to you. You better be ready for him. He’s going to come after you.” But once Green got off the phone with Evans, he sounded more wistful than intense. Then, Green reflected on his feelings from when the Warriors selected him with the No. 35 pick nearly six years ago.
“It took me back to my day being drafted,” Green told the Warriors about his phone conversation with Evans. “He was so excited on the phone. He said he was so
elated just to talk to me. You could just tell he was excited to be a Warrior.”
The Warriors could also tell that Green was excited to be in the draft room. And he showed that passion with a different side to his personality. The same player who has yelled at officials, berated teammates and talked trash with opponents is the same guy who asked questions, listened and observed during the draft.
“What’s interesting is he’s different off the floor than he is on the floor. You get the competitive spirit without that edge when it’s off the floor. That’s great to have,” Harris said. “You can tell he’s sincere. It’s one thing to have a player come in, join you and just go through the motion and think, ‘This is kind of cool, I’m out. I’ll show up one day, I’m out.’ This was every day. He wanted to get the process first.”
During that process, Harris said Green never shared any aspirations to work in a front office. Harris had plenty of other things to worry about with the draft than to ask the 28-year-old Green about his post-NBA playing career ambitions.
But with Harris considering Green “one of the brightest and sharpest minds there is on both sides of the basketball,” the Warriors did not sound surprised if Green’s recent time with the front office would entice him to pursue that field.
“His biggest driver is he hates to lose. There’s winning and losing in this job,” Myers said. “There’s winning and losing in coaching. I think he’s going to need to compete. Whatever it is, he’s going to have to compete. That’s a thing that I think he needs. But whatever he chooses, he’s going to be good at.”