Getty Draymond Green
Just when it looked like Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green had either lost his touch or perhaps just worn out his welcome in the Bay area comes word that the boss wants him to stick around for as long as possible.
Team owner Joe Lacob can’t imagine seeing Green playing in anything other than a Warriors jersey, despite his struggles earlier in the season.
“He’s Draymond Green,” Lacob told The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson II. “I wasn’t worried. I want Draymond Green to be here forever. He’s as Warrior as they come.”
Lacob probably had reason to be at least a little worried as Green struggled through his worst statistical campaign since his sophomore season of 2013-2014. If nothing else, Green’s act appeared to be wearing thin with his coach just a few months ago.
The former All Star averaged 7.4 points per game this season, a 19 percent drop on his career average of 9.1 per game. His assists, rebounds, blocks, and free throw percentage were all down across the board from his numbers last year. Things bottomed out in December when Green shot just 37 percent from the field, well off of his lifetime mark of 44 percent.
But then came the playoffs and a new Draymond Green who was lighter on the scales and heavier on the scoring.
Dominating at Both Ends
GettyDraymond Green claps during the 2018 NBA Finals.
Even in a deep slump, defense has never been an issue for Draymond, but rarely have we seen him in this type of offensive form. He put up 15 points on Tuesday night, doubling his season average. He’s hit double-digit points in six of eight playoff games so far, and 10 of 14 going back to the regular season.
When he wasn’t accidentally removing the opposing team’s best player from the game, Green was also dishing out assists (7), while continually giving the Warriors second opportunities on offense with 7 offensive rebounds (12 total).
This sequence from Draymond Green is just simply spectacular
Things have gotten so ugly for the Rockets that some are calling for Clint Capela, the man charged with defending Green, to be pulled from the starting lineup.
What’s behind the drastic turnaround for the 29-year old? Nothing more than good living, apparently. He got a wake-up call in March when general manager Bob Meyers told him “you’ve got to get in shape.”
“Yeah, I start this strenuous regimen on March 6,” Green told The Athletic at the time. “It’ll take me like two weeks, maybe like 10 days, to really get to where I need to be.”
Green would go on to lose 23 pounds in the next six weeks.
No Hometown Discount
Meyers may end up wishing he hadn’t created such a monster when it comes time to give Green a new contract.
According to Sportrac, he’s got one year left on a five-year, $82 million deal worth a base salary of $18.54 million; after that, he’s a free agent. However, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst has reported that Green would like to see his deal renegotiated this summer, rather than waiting for free agency.
But negotiations may not be as team friendly this time around.
“I took less so we could go after KD,” Green told ESPN about the discount deal he signed the last time around, one in which he may have left as much as $12 million on the table.
According to ESPN’s league sources, Green is not willing to give any type of discount this time, meaning, meaning owner Joe Lacob will have to pay up if he does indeed want to make Green a Warrior for life.