As the NBA season nears its quarter-mark, the Golden State Warriors, who sit at a 10-10 record, have been rather disappointing offensively, struggling to find any consistency from the players beyond their stars.
Yet, one relatively unnoticed development, the improved 3-point shooting of Draymond Green, could make a signficant impact on their versatility. While Green will certainly not win them games as a knockdown perimeter shooter, his ability to space the floor even slightly could grant the team much-needed offensive flexibility, especially when Jonathan Kuminga returns from injury.
This season, Green is hitting 36.5% of his catch-and-shoot 3-pointers: an extremely surprising improvement given his status as a career 32.1% shooter. While Green is always known to hit a deep shot here or there, a more consistent mark in this category could make all the difference for Golden State.
Draymond Green's sudden ability to space the floor could pay huge dividends when Jonathan Kuminga returns
Since the Warriors' championship run in 2022, their problem has always centered around one central deficit in their game: their inability to find the right mix of players to augment Stephen Curry.
While Jimmy Butler, who the team acquired at the trade deadline last season, did not make an impact from beyond the arc, his status as a bona-fide secondary scorer helped alleviate a significant portion of the defensive pressure that Curry faced, and, conjoined with his viability as a defender, the team saw a marked turnaround once he arrived.
Yet, his presence also created issues. Given the fact that neither him nor Green were capable 3-point shooters, Golden State was unable to play Kuminga, their most dynamic young scorer, in the starting lineup.
This season, when Kuminga's been healthy, that combination has actually been particularly effective. Across the 160 minutes they've played together, the Warriors have an 11.8 net rating. Yet, the song remains the same. If none of these players are viable perimeter shooters, the team simply cannot have all three of them on the court at the same time.
However, Butler has shot a remarkable 45.9% from beyond the arc this year, and, barring a rough stretch he experienced right before his injury, Kuminga was showing signs of improvement as well.
Therefore, if Green can become even a shadow of a catch-and-shoot threat, the Warriors' ideal lineup could suddenly become available to them again.
Frankly, no one expects Green to suddenly become a knockdown shooter, but that is not what the team needs. Both him and Butler must be viable enough from beyond the arc that opposing defenses are required to at least pay attention to them in that area of the court, and, so far this season, it appears as though an unlikely development in Green's game may allow that to happen.