Golden State Warriors: Draymond Green ranked embarrassingly low in ESPN Top 100

Golden State Warriors’ three-time All-Star Draymond Green should not be happy about the league-wide ranking he received from ESPN.

The Golden State Warriors will have four players in the top 50 and two in the top 30. One of those two won’t be Draymond Green, who was ranked No. 38 by ESPN. This is an embarrassingly low rank for one of the league’s best all-around players.

Green is a three-time All-Star and is ranked just spots ahead of Zion Williamson, the newest rookie phenom. A few of the names higher than Green are Al Horford and Khris Middleton. Ahead of those two are Jayson Tatum and Kristaps Porzingis.

Tatum will not have a more impactful season than Draymond Green. Not a great defender or playmaker, Tatum can score, but giving him a higher rank than Green seems absurd. ESPN is banking on Tatum taking a step when it’s more likely that Green dials back the clock.

Here’s what ESPN wrote on Green, who was ranked No. 16 last season.

"Green’s focus has long been on the playoffs rather than the grind of the regular season. And come the postseason, after getting in better shape, he emerged as perhaps the second-most important Golden State player after Stephen Curry during the Warriors’ run to the NBA Finals. Green’s 13.3 points per game in the playoffs were his most since 2016, and his 8.5 assists per game were a career high."

Yes, Green did have a poor campaign last season.

However, his new environment and the teammates surrounding him may prepare him for his best year to date. He’ll need to be the offensive creator this season, something he hasn’t been in almost half a decade.

With Klay Thompson out indefinitely and Kevin Durant on the Nets, the Warriors will force the ball into Green’s hands more often. They’ll allow him the reigns to the offense, and if we saw anything similar to this past postseason when Durant was out, Green could be in store for a career year.

After the team’s first-round series against the LA Clippers, Green, with Durant out the majority of the time, averaged 13.9 points, 11.0 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game. You can also tack on 1.6 steals and 1.4 blocks.

He was an absolute animal and, in those minutes, would’ve been far better than Middleton or Tatum. He’ll be the second-most important player offensively till Thompson’s return and the most important factor defensively for the championship-caliber Warriors.

This is the season which Green dials it back to 2014. However, ESPN, for now, doesn’t agree.