Veteran forward Draymond Green has taken a subtle dig at head coach Steve Kerr amid conversations around a new role for the 36-year-old with the Golden State Warriors this season.
Kerr has declared he wants Green shooting more threes this season to improve the flow of the Warrior offense, with the former Defensive Player of the Year suggesting he’s rarely been given that freedom over the last decade.
Draymond Green takes subtle dig at Steve Kerr with shooting comments
Responding to Kerr’s recent comments on the Tom Tolbert show about a new role this upcoming season, Green expressed his excitement but hinted at a sense of mistrust from the head coach when it comes to his shooting in the past.
"I’m looking forward to that, not that I’m just going to come out casting threes, but I definitely am going to look to get more of them up when I’m open and you know that’s exciting to hear from your coach. That’s exciting because it’s not necessarily something that I’ve always heard," Green said on his podcast.
But if Kerr has warned Green against taking too many threes in the past decade, it’s for very good reason given his shooting numbers. After hitting 38.8% from beyond the arc during the 2015-16 season, the four-time All-Star has nailed only 31.1% on 2.9 attempts across the last 10 seasons.
Those numbers deliver immense hesitation over whether Green can firstly hit a league average 35-36% on increased volume, and secondly whether he can garner enough attention from opposing defenses to further open up a Golden State offense that ranked only 19th in the league last season
Draymond Green has no choice but to increase shooting volume and percentage
While Green is still capable of being one of the league’s best defenders on any given night, his day-to-day consistency on that end took a dip last season after being a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year in 2025.
Given his defense is occasionally no longer worth the offensive limitations, Green has no choice but to increase his shooting volume and percentage this season in the hope his game can age gracefully and his career be extended for a few more years.
If Green can't successfully transition into a new role that features more 3-point shooting, Kerr and the Warriors will be left with no other options but to further usher in the next generation of forwards in Yaxel Lendeborg and Gui Santos, while it could also lead to the four-time champion's exit from the franchise prior to the February mid-season trade deadline.
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