Golden State Warriors: 6 trading partners for Draymond Green
By Tony Pesta
1. Houston Rockets
This season has been a strange one for the Houston Rockets. After steadily improving every season, the Rockets reached their peak by pushing the Golden State Warriors to seven-games in last years Western Conference Finals. Now, just a year later, the team is on the verge of missing the playoffs.
Houston has been struggling mightily. While injuries are to blame for some issues, the root of the Rockets problems is their lack of defense. The Rockets allowed multiple defensive oriented players to walk this summer and the ramifications have been stronger than anyone could have imagined.
Currently, the Rockets have the fifth worst defensive rating in the league and contest the second-fewest field goal attempts per game. In other words, the Rockets give up more open looks than any other team outside of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Through three months of the NBA season, Houston holds a 19-15 record. James Harden has done everything he can by averaging 32.3 points, 8.4 assists and 5.7 rebounds a game. Despite this MVP level performance from Harden, the Rockets have not managed to consistently win games.
This is where Draymond Green would make his presence felt. Green has not been his usual self on defense this year, but, I believe it is because of the Warriors lack of a shot blocker. Green is a defensive genius and understands how to force opponents into bad shots. Now, he is no longer able to rely on anyone contest shots when he forces the opposing player into the teeth of the defense.
With the Rockets, Draymond would have Clint Capela there to block shots at a high rate. Capela is averaging a career-high 2.0 blocks per game and would be excellent at assisting Green on defense. Dray could funnel the opposing players into the middle of the paint and allow Capela to do his job.
This pairing would solve a huge problem for the Rockets and allow them to be contenders once again. Therefore, I expect Houston to make a push for Green if the Warriors ever decide to put him on the trading block.