The Golden State Warriors evidently still have a turnover issue entering the regular season, having averaged nearly 20 per game which ranked in the bottom 10 teams in the league during preseason.
Yet despite the team's concerns, Draymond Green quietly and effectively went about answering Steve Kerr's plea for less turnovers and a different role for the veteran forward.
Draymond Green quietly answered Steve Kerr's turnover plea during preseason
Green has often been a major perpetrator of Golden State's turnover issues over the past decade, but that certainly wasn't the case during preseason where he recorded only six turnovers across 76 minutes on the floor.
The more impressive element is that he kept his assist numbers high, recording 25 in four games which included 10 dimes during Friday's final preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers -- a game in which their offense was clicking with 128 points.
There's no coincidence that Green's incredibly positive assist-to-turnover ratio has only meant good things for the Warriors when he's on the floor. The 36-year-old finished as a +55 total plus-minus over preseason, ranked easily first on the team ahead of exciting rookie forward Yaxel Lendeborg.
Only time will tell if this can transition to the regular season when it actually matters, and when Green will be playing extended minutes which could lead to fatigue and subsequent physical and mental errors with ball in hand.
Nonetheless, it's a positive start for the 4x All-Star, particularly when it will play such a crucial role in the Warriors trying to maintain an even league average offense without Jimmy Butler and Kristaps Porzingis. It's also crucial for Green's overall place on the team leading into February's mid-season trade deadline, with a myriad of speculation already on the potential of Golden State using his expiring contract in a deal.
Draymond Green still needs to prove himself as a 3-point shooter
As much as Kerr would be thrilled by Green's assist-to-turnover numbers during preseason, his former Defensive Player of the Year hasn't exactly been a more willing 3-point shooter like he asked for.
Green took just six total field-goal attempts during preseason, four of which came from beyond the arc where he made two. The Warriors desperately need him to be more of a scoring threat, and even more so with Butler and Porzingis out early in the season.
Green has averaged at least 2.5 turnovers in each of his past six years -- a number he, Kerr and the Warriors will be hoping he can duck under this season with less offensive usage.
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