Draymond Green: My Role with Warriors 'Completely Changes' Without Kevin Durant

With Kevin Durant out for at least Game 1 of the NBA Finals versus the Toronto Raptors with a calf injury, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green acknowledged that his own role with the team has changed.

In an interview with ESPN's Rachel Nichols on The Jump (h/t Nick Friedell), Green said:

"It completely changes. I have to be more of a scoring threat when Kevin's not out there. I have to—I really try to push the pace more when he's not out there. When Kevin's out there, we all have the luxury of just saying, 'OK, that set didn't work, we still got this guy to just throw a ball into it and get out of the way.' That luxury isn't there anymore, and also I think with Kevin being out, we're trying to make up 37 points again."

Durant is the reigning two-time Finals MVP, but the Warriors have gone 5-0 without him in these playoffs, beating the Houston Rockets in Game 6 of their second-round series and then sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals.

Green averaged 14.8 points, 9.2 rebounds and 8.1 assists per outing in 11 games with KD in the lineup this postseason compared to a 16.2/11.4/8.4 line without him.

Draymond Dagger 3

While Green stopped short of saying that having success without Durant is more enjoyable, he did suggest that winning without KD is a greater challenge:

"I wouldn't necessarily say more fun, but it's just like anything in life. If you go into something with a little more uncertainty, when you come out of it, it feels a little better. Because you got over the doubt. Whatever doubt it was that you was facing, you got over that.

"When Kevin's with us, I walk into the arena and I know how this game is gonna go. I know we're gonna win and whatever else you wanna add in to that, I know already. When he's not, I'm still extremely confident that we're gonna win, I'm still extremely confident that we're the best team walking in. But you gotta figure a little more out in order to win as opposed to when he out there. And so I think it gives you a little more joy initially when you finish that game."

Given how well the Warriors have played without Durant, while going 7-4 with him, some wondered if Golden State may be better without him. Green shot that down earlier this month, calling the idea "very idiotic," per The Athletic's Tim Kawakami.

The Warriors brought Durant in after losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals, and it paid off quickly. However, the trio of Green, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson made the Finals twice pre-KD (winning once), and it's possible the three may need to run the show all series since Durant has yet to put in any on-court work.