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Golden State Warriors: Why Draymond Green hasn’t been an elite defender

By Tony Pesta

OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 25: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers goes up to shoot and gets fouled by Draymond Green #23 of the Golden State Warriors during the first half of their NBA Basketball game at ORACLE Arena on December 25, 2018 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 25: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers goes up to shoot and gets fouled by Draymond Green #23 of the Golden State Warriors during the first half of their NBA Basketball game at ORACLE Arena on December 25, 2018 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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Draymond Green hasn’t been his usual self on the defensive end this year. Today, we will analyze what has happened to the Golden State Warriors All-Star.

Over the years, Draymond Green has made a name for himself as a top-tier defensive player. His versatility on defense helped make him a Defensive Player of the Year and elevated the Golden State Warriors to a championship level.

Draymond became a very unique player. Rarely had the league ever seen a guy with the ability to defend all five positions. Green was exceptional at playing both on-ball and off-ball defense and his IQ made him a force to be reckoned with.

Sadly, something has changed this season. Green is having one of the worst years of his career offensively and his defense has been taking a hit as well. But, this isn’t something new. In fact, Greens defense has been declining steadily since last season and there is a solid explanation behind this trend.

For the last three seasons, Green’s defensive rating has been getting progressively worse. Before the 2016-17 season, Daymond had never had a season over a rating of 100. Since then, he has had his two worst defensive ratings at 104.1 and 101.1 in 2017-18 and 2018-19 respectively.

This dip in his rating can be attributed to one major factor. The Golden State Warriors have been sacrificing their depth in favor of acquiring All-Star players. The 2016-17 season was the first year of this trend as the Dubs signed Kevin Durant. With this major signing, the Warriors were forced to let some of their veteran role players walk.

It started with the Warriors losing Andrew Bogut. Bogut was the anchor of the Warriors interior defense with an average of 1.6 blocked shots a game. The man who was brought in to replace Bogut was JaVale McGee, who averaged just 0.9 blocks a game for his two seasons with the Warriors.

Because of this lack of shot blocking, the Warriors defense as a whole paid the price. Green was effected the most as his defensive presence was marginalized because there was no one to help protect the rim.

Green excelled at forcing opponents into bad shots by pushing them towards his help defenders. Without a shot blocking center ready to contest layups, Green’s defense became less effective.

Kevin Durant and Damian Jones currently lead the Warriors in blocks with just 1.0 blocks a game. As a result, Green no longer appears to be as dominant on the defensive end.

This shouldn’t hurt Draymond’s reputation as a defender. He still has a great defensive mind and has the physical tools to lock down opponents, but any player will look bad without a rim protector to clean up his mistakes.

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