For years, putting Draymond Green at center allowed the Golden State Warriors to unlock their best lineup combinations whenever the level of adversity they were facing was at its highest. With Green at the five, the Warriors were able to switch plenty of matchups defensively, thanks to his versatility, while his playmaking at the position opens up the floor for Stephen Curry and company. However, the Warriors have had to rely on Green to hold the fort at the center position on a full-time basis over the past month or so.
Nevertheless, Green is confident that he can give it his all in this new full-time role for the Warriors, especially when he has plenty of capable understudies ready to step up just in case the back injury that landed him on the injury report prior to their Wednesday night battle against the Memphis Grizzlies resurface.
“I can do it. I’m cut out for it. I don’t overly worry about it because I know we have fives that are perfectly capable of taking over and doing what we need them to do. It’s not something I think about,” Green said, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
Draymond Green, the Warriors' full-time starting center
For the past two seasons, Warriors fans have clamored for their team to add more size, as they have become overly reliant on the perimeter game to work in their favor. But instead, Steve Kerr decided to double down on small-ball; Kevon Looney and Trayce Jackson-Davis tend to cramp the team's spacing while Dario Saric, after a torrid start to the season, has cooled down, and he isn't exactly an impactful defender.
It was on January 30 when Kerr essentially named Green as his full-time starting center. Since then, the Warriors have seen marked improvement in their play. They have gone 17-8 since the aforementioned date, with Green averaging 8.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 6.0 assists, with the Warriors ranking seventh in net rating (+5.5) since making the switch.
With the Warriors facing an uphill climb as they jockey for positioning in the Western Conference standings, they have little margin of error, hence their decision to give Green this kind of responsibility. However, Green is no spring chicken anymore; he's already 34 years old, and as capable as he is of battling against the biggest bruisers in the association, it's valid to question whether or not his body will hold up in the long run.
Beyond his health, Green will also have to be mindful not to get into too many skirmishes; being the Warriors' starting center means than he's spending more time banging in the paint, so he'll have to keep his cool as well in addition to staying healthy.
The Dubs' options at the five
Draymond Green said that he believes that the Warriors have other capable options at the five, so he doesn't worry about holding back in the fear of re-aggravating his back injury. But just how capable are they in case the worst case scenario comes to life?
Kevon Looney, one of the Warriors' most trusted players over the past half-decade, has been out of the rotation as of late. Ditto for Dario Saric.
Meanwhile, Trayce Jackson-Davis is earning his keep, so he might be the team's best option in case Green goes down. He is a lob threat who even managed to put Victor Wembanyama on a poster, and he is rapidly improving as a defender.
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