Amid Stephen Curry Revolution, Draymond Green Blossoming into NBA Superstar
Hidden somewhere between the Golden State Warriors' march toward history and Stephen Curry's shaming of the human race at large is another equally important development.
Draymond Green is now, without question, an NBA superstar.
That is not an assertion typically made so early in the season. The Warriors aren't yet 15 games into their schedule as they journey to Staples Center for a meeting with the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night.
But these Warriors are above sample-size politics. They're an upgraded version of the squad that won 67 games and a championship last season. Additional time isn't needed to declare them one of the greatest teams of all time or to conclude that Curry is a future Hall of Famer.
Green's rise through the NBA ranks isn't sudden. It's the culmination of a process that began last year, when David Lee's hamstring injury paved the way for Green to turn an interim starting job into an $82 million role.
Even then, though, as Green showcased his versatility, finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting and helped Golden State to its first title in 40 years, the debate raged on.
Was he a product of the Warriors' system?
Would another team be foolish to offer him a max deal over the summer?
The Warriors never let Green flirt with anyone else in restricted free agency. They bet five years and $82 million on his value.
Rather quickly, it's become clear, if it even needed to, that Green's contract isn't solely a reflection of Golden State's inability to spend money elsewhere. The Warriors are not the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Green is not Tristan Thompson.
Entering Thursday's matchup with the Clippers, Green is averaging 12 points, eight rebounds, 6.9 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks per game. Two players in league history have ever sustained that kind of production for an entire season: Larry Bird and Kevin Garnett.
Terribly small sample sizes would bring Green's production under question if not for the fact his output is actually on par with past performances. Green is receiving more playing time than ever, and his per-36-minute numbers do not drastically differ from last season's splits:
| 2014-15 | 13.3 | 44.3 | 33.7 | 9.4 | 4.2 | 1.8 | 1.4 |
| 2015-16 | 12.7 | 44.1 | 40.4 | 8.5 | 7.3 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
Only two areas stand out as potentially misleading: Green's blistering three-point shooting and heightened playmaking. Neither, however, is inexplicable.
Green improved from long range in each of his first three seasons. Shooting better than 40 percent from downtown represents an above-average jump, but it's merely a tribute to the types of looks he's getting.
Almost 40 percent of his attempts have come as spot-up three-point opportunities. He's shooting 39 percent in those situations. More than 40 percent of his looks from the outside go uncontested—defined as a defender being no closer than four feet. He's draining 40.5 percent of those triples.
More of Green's deep balls came in standalone situations and went uncontested last season, and while his conversion rates were lower, wide-open attempts are the easiest to improve upon. It's not surprising he is becoming more efficient on high-percentage shots—especially with defenses unsuccessfully devoting most of their manpower to stopping the unstoppable Stephen Curry.
And it's because of Curry's alien shooting Green finds himself setting the tone as a facilitator. As Grant Hughes explained for Today's Fastbreak:
"For the Warriors, it had to be this way. As teams gradually realized Curry had to be attacked with two defenders in high pick-and-rolls, Green, often the screener, became the easy outlet valve. And while it took him some time to get comfortable with the shoot-pass-drive decision tree that presented itself in the resulting 4-on-3 situations (if we can even say a year or so is "some time"), he has now mastered the practice.
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This change isn't actually new. The Warriors made similar adjustments throughout last year's playoff run, during which time Green's assist percentage climbed above 20.
That it's now at 27.2 and rivaling Curry's mark amid Golden State's deliberate reliance on his above-the-break playmaking isn't difficult to believe. It also helps he's not deferring to scrubs.
"I play with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes knocking down shots," Green said in an interview with the Detroit Free Press' Vince Ellis. "Andre [Iguodala], [Andrew] Bogut in the middle. Festus [Ezeli] getting all them dunks. They make shots."
Nearly 30 percent of Green's dimes are being dropped to Curry. And if assisting Curry isn't sustainable, what is?
Nothing else about Green's performance should engender skepticism. He's not forcing steals and blocking shots at abnormally high rates. He's not lighting the world on fire with untenable scoring. The Warriors aren't using him differently on defense. He has always been the positionless fulcrum who allows them to deploy pocket-sized lineups and switch on everything.
Not even Green's claim to second in command is new. Thompson was an All-Star last season, but it was Green who ranked as the second-best asset.
During their championship-caging postseason push, the Warriors were only a net-minus when one player left the floor: Green. Not Curry. Green.
And the story hasn't changed.
The Warriors aren't being outgunned when he sits, but it's Green, not Curry, who owns their best net rating among players to log 50 total minutes. And of Golden State's 10 most used players, the team experiences the biggest drop-off when Green, not Curry, is on the sidelines:
Green's standing isn't just unique to the Warriors roster, either.
Here's how Golden State's drop-off without him compares to the team differentials for some of the NBA's top forwards:
It's not just fair to say Green is as important to the Warriors as any of the game's top stars are to their respective teams. It's unfair not to.
Just as much as Golden State's season is about chasing the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, just as much as it's about Curry's highlights breaking the Internet, it's about Green being accepted for what he started to be last season and what he most certainly, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is now: a superstar.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com unless otherwise cited and are accurate leading into games for Nov. 19.
Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @danfavale.
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