Getty JaMychal Green guards Jonathan Kuminga during a bout between the Denver Nuggets and the Golden State Warriors.
The Golden State Warriors‘ 2021-22 season may have had a storybook ending with their NBA championship run, but the offseason has gone another way entirely. More than anything, it has been a period defined more by what the team lost than what it was able to gain.
Several players from the Dubs’ title-winning roster found their way to new hardwood destinations, including some old faves in Damion Lee and Juan Toscano-Anderson, as well as key contributors like Gary Payton II and Otto Porter Jr.
That’s not to say, though, that the team was totally blanked during free agency. In fact, Warriors president Bob Myers acquitted himself fairly well in his attempt to replace what was lost, while still leaving minutes open for the club’s hot young prospects to take on larger roles next season.
In fact, The Ringer‘s Dan Devine just namechecked one of Myers’ signings as a possible steal for Golden State.
Dubs Get Shouted Out for JaMychal Green Signing
Devine cobbled together a list of the “most intriguing under-the-radar” acquisitions of the NBA offseason. And the Warriors’ one-year, $2.6 million signing of big man JaMychal Green received a mention in the piece.
The hoops scribe noted that the Warriors had been on the prowl for “a capable set of hands off the pine just in case young guns Jonathan Kuminga and James Wiseman aren’t quite ready for prime time” and that they had found their man — at a bargain-basement rate — in the cagey vet.
“Enter the 32-year-old JaMychal Green, who brings 49 games of postseason experience from his years with the Grizzlies, Clippers and Nuggets; who can slot in comfortably at power forward or center; and whom two-time MVP Nikola Jokic once said he’d like to play with ‘for the rest of my life.'”
That’s obviously a huge endorsement from Jokic, but Devine can envision a scenario in which Green similarly endears himself to the Warriors’ big guns.
“If Green can switch screens, protect the rim, and play in space while rehabilitating the three-point stroke that cashed in 38.5 percent of the time over a five-season stretch, Steph, Draymond, and Co. might just find themselves feeling the same way.”
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The Three-Point Drop
Green appeared in 67 games for the Nuggets last season, averaging 6.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in only 16.4 minutes per outing. For the most part, his per-minute numbers fell in line with those he had established over the course of his eight years in the league. However, the three-point dip Devine referenced was significant.
After attempting just over 60% of his shots from three-point range over the previous two seasons, Green slowed his roll from behind the arc in 2021-22, dropping that portion to 37.9%. And he only managed to convert those attempts at a 26.6% rate, the worst percentage since his rookie season in 2014-15.
If he can recover in the year to come, it’s not difficult to picture him having a Porter-like impact in the Bay Area. But, clearly, there’s some work that needs to be done there.
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