Warriors News: Draymond Green on Minutes Restriction After Stephen Curry Injury

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told reporters Friday that forward/center Draymond Green will go on a minutes restriction.

"The one thing we won't do is run him into the ground," Kerr told Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle and others. "We have to manage a good schedule for Draymond minutes-wise."

The Warriors' 2019-20 season has started about as poorly as possible. Two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry will be out for three months with a broken left hand, and the Warriors have lost three of their first four games en route to allowing the NBA's second-most points per game.

Furthermore, Kerr told Logan Murdock of NBC Sports Bay Area on Oct. 22 that it is "unlikely" five-time All-Star shooting guard Klay Thompson will play for the Warriors this season. Thompson suffered a torn ACL in the 2019 NBA Finals.

The Warriors' season is only four games old, but sans Curry and Thompson, Golden State will be hard-pressed just to make the playoffs let alone contend for the Western Conference title.

The onus will be on Green to assume more responsibilities in Curry's absence, but at this point, it doesn't make much sense to "run him into the ground" as Kerr said. The Warriors may not gain much by doing so, and the team is best-served looking toward a 2020-21 season when Curry and Thompson should both be back healthy.

Still, the Warriors aren't going into tank mode, and Kerr made the team's objective clear.

“The objective is still to win," Kerr said per Kerith Burke of NBC Sports Bay Area. "The expectations change. There’s an awareness of where we are." Kerr also said the Warriors are "competitive as hell."

Green has posted 10.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 27.5 minutes per game this year. He and the Warriors will continue a four-game homestand against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday. It will mark the Warriors' first game since Curry's injury.