Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green admitted he arrived in the NBA at a crucial time, blessed with an opportunity to prove his worth to the franchise as the organization started to mold the talent it drafted over the last few years. Assistant GM Kirk Lacob recalled an anecdote in which Green wholeheartedly shared his thankfulness for the chance to become a starter and later on an All-Star:

“I had a conversation with Draymond about this right after our season. He said, ‘I would not be the player I was today if I had come onto this Warriors team three years ago,'” Lacob told Nick Friedell of ESPN. “He's like ‘When I got here, we were a completely different team. I was given a chance, and I failed a lot.' And he's like, ‘I sucked my first year. My second year I was OK. My third year I got an opportunity. That's hard for young guys who aren't being given that opportunity because we got guys who have been here a long time and have established roles. There's just no opportunity for growth.'”

Green got a chance to man the power forward spot after an injury to David Lee, and that extra playing time started to translate into points, rebounds and assists, along with its share of invaluable defense.

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Lacob is cognizant that the Warriors might be coming around to the same process, potentially giving a player like Jacob Evans the chance to develop into a point guard after originally being drafted as a defensive specialist on the wing:

“Before, we wouldn't put a player into a new role, like a Jacob Evans,” Lacob said. “Maybe he becomes a point guard, maybe he doesn't, but the ability to go every single day and work on that and then [have] the freedom to try that in a game gives you a chance to grow.”

“There just wasn't time, and for a lot of those players it didn't make sense,” Lacob added. “Now we have an opportunity. … It's really about spreading these guys' wings and letting them fly a little bit and not being as worried about the day-to-day results. You kind of got to fail to succeed in the NBA. Trial by fire. And we finally have a chance to do that.”

Evans and others will now have the chance to surge through this process, just like Green did at the beginning stages of this dynasty.