Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green is willing to do whatever it takes to win, but even a player as competitive as he is had to acknowledge that the franchise should aim to acquire a new starting center. It was an eye-opening claim with a thorough explanation from one of the most accomplished undersized centers in NBA history.
At 35 years of age, however, Green is acknowledging the reality of his battle against Father Time and the need for help along the interior.
Green has won four championships as the de facto 5 in Golden State's various formations of its vaunted death lineup. Despite standing at 6'6" and 230 pounds, he's taken on the unenviable challenge of guarding players who have significant size advantages over him—and routinely holds his own.
During a recent episode of The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis, the former Defensive Player of the Year explained how difficult it is for him to shoulder that physical burden.
"Playing the 5? It's hard. And I'm always down to do it...I'll take on the challenge. But it's hard battling every night, guys who outweigh me by 60 to 80 pounds. And they four, six, seven inches taller than me. It does take a toll. And most situations for me, where I notice it's taking the toll, I come out in the first half because I still got my legs, and the j-ball is fire. Then I come out in the second half, where you been battling, anchoring the defense. I don't think people understand the toll of what anchoring the defense requires."
Green reiterated that he's willing to do everything and anything he can to help the Warriors win, but noted that he believes the Warriors should aim to improve at center.
"I agree with Steve. If we could have a different starting center, and if at some point we need to go to [Green playing center], cool. But it's a lot. And as I get older and older in this league, it gets tougher and tougher."
It must be noted that Green explicitly stated that he's ready to do anything the Warriors ask of him, but the physical toll it's taking on his body to play center must be respected.
Draymond Green thinks Warriors should acquire a new starting center
Green's positional assignments are tough to diagnose, as he played considerable minutes alongside either Trayce Jackson-Davis or Kevon Looney in 2024-25. Both are effectively centers, although their roles within the system aren't quite traditional.
Green often remains the player tasked with matching up against star-caliber centers, even when said player has a significant size advantage.
Nikola Jokic, for instance, is five inches taller and 54 pounds heavier than Green. Even still, Green is typically tasked with finding an answer for the three-time MVP. Alperen Sengun, meanwhile, has the same five-inch advantage and has a more manageable but still noteworthy 13 pounds over Green.
Despite that fact, Green found himself defending Sengun on 189.8 partial possessions during the Warriors' first-round series against the Houston Rockets—and spent another 61.8 partial possessions guarding Steven Adams, who has 35 pounds on him.
If that weren't enough, Green defended Rudy Gobert, who's eight inches taller and 28 pounds heavier than him, on 80.3 partial possessions during the second round. It was all par for the course for a player who must routinely find ways to defend players who should be able to physically overwhelm him.
Even when Green succeeds in doing so, he's still tasked with anchoring the defense and rushing out to pick up perimeter players on a regular basis—see: 52.5 partial possessions against Amen Thompson and 34.4 on Fred VanVleet.
Draymond Green acknowledges physical toll of playing as undersized 5
With this in mind, it's hard to fault Green for believing the Warriors would benefit from adding a new starting center. Jackson-Davis and Looney provide admirable contributions, but neither played more than 10.0 minutes per game during the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
Adding a center who can take on those physical challenges for upward of 25 minutes per game, meanwhile, would afford Green a significant level of physical relief.
The hurdle ahead of Golden State is that finding the right player will be far easier said than done. Skill set must be factored in, as Green is a career 32.0 percent shooter who may need to be complemented by an adequate floor-spacer to make the fit work.
Perhaps Green is on to something, however, when he says that his jumper is more efficient when his legs aren't tired—meaning the right starting center could help him establish efficiency.
Even if the ideal fit is identified, however, their trade assets are limited. They have a 2027 or 2028 first-round draft pick at their disposal, but an aging and expensive roster begets the utilization of said picks for sustainable growth. As such, a Jonathan Kuminga sign-and-trade may be their most viable path to improvement.
Regardless of how the Warriors approach this matter, what's clear is that the ultimate team player is publicly asking the franchise to alleviate some of the physical strain he endures as the acting center.