Golden State Warriors: Draymond Green’s three-point shooting proving crucial rediscovery

As the Golden State Warriors’ offense sputtered in the fourth quarter of their December 2nd matchup against the Chicago Bulls, it was a clutch three-pointer that turned the momentum and staved off Chicago’s comeback. But it wasn’t from the usual suspects — Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, nor even Andrew Wiggins or Jordan Poole. The timely field goal came from an unlikely shooter in Draymond Green.

The Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green, who’s struggled from beyond the arc over the last six seasons, is putting together a sneakily good shooting performance to start the season.

Having converted 11 of his 33 three-point attempts (33.3%) this season, Green is quietly outperforming his career average of 31.5%. While it’s by no means outstanding, he’s been a respectable threat from distance. Over the Dubs’ 12 home games he’s been outstanding — hitting 38.9% of his 1.5 attempts per game.

The three-point shooting is part of a quasi-renaissance for his offensive game. He is averaging a five-year high 8.9 points per game on a career-high 58.5% shooting from the field. Green is certainly increasing his chances of getting the contract extension that he wants after his teammates, Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole, recently cashed in extensions of their own.

If Green can maintain this clip from deep, it unearths an old weapon that makes the defending champions much more dangerous come playoff time. Green’s three-point shooting played an integral role in the Warriors’ 2015-16 record-breaking 73-win season. That year he hit 38.8% of his triples on 3.2 attempts per game — both career highs.

But he’s never been able to reproduce that success. In the previous four seasons, he’s never eclipsed 30% from three and his attempts per game have steadily decreased from three per game in 2019-20, to a career-low 1.2 attempts last season (excluding his rookie season).

While the sample size from this season is admittedly small, it’s large enough after 21 games to create reason for optimism. Green being a threat from three unlocks another level of offense that we haven’t seen from the Dubs in more than a half-decade.

The rest of the season will be telling. While Golden State have proven they can win without Green being a shooting threat, if he can maintain this rate, a quick climb up the Western Conference standings will surely follow. If he regresses to his old ways, more strain will be put on the team’s shooters — Curry, Thompson and Poole — who can expect doubles coming from Green’s defenders.

If Green can continue dropping in threes at above a 33% clip, it will be hard to bet against the Warriors repeating as NBA champions.