Despite the optics, Draymond Green is not buying into the narrative that the Golden State Warriors are a better team without Kevin Durant. The Warriors have won three straight games and a pivotal fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets without Durant, but that short sample isn't enough for Green to bite on that spin.

“That's idiotic,” Green said on Thursday of the suggestions, according to Tim Kawakami of The Athletic. “It's very idiotic. I don't think there's one person in this locker room, one person in this organization that thinks that. And I know for damn sure that any idiot that does possibly (say) it don't believe it.”

Fans have had a nostalgic trip through the way-back machine with Durant out of commission following his strained calf, seeing the Warriors play the brand of basketball that endeared them so much to the basketball universe.

Yet it was Durant who turned the Warriors from title contenders to an all-out juggernaut, playing a major part in sparking them to the last two titles.

Before he suffered the injury, Durant led all playoff scorers with an average of 34.2 points per game, including 45-, 46-, and a 50-point gem during this postseason to keep the Warriors in the race for a three-peat.

The Warriors have held their head above water in his absence, but they are by no means a better team. Durant's contributions at both ends of the floor will become more evident in the next round, as Golden State will need his length and basketball savvy against better-equipped teams like the Toronto Raptors or the Milwaukee Bucks — and Green knows it too.