Draymond Green puts the best assist numbers so far this season in the NBA, but was his dwindling shooting percentage a problem for the Warriors offense?
Long Barry and Hall of Fame, the indicator Rick Barry, believe this and explained to 95.7 The Game on Thursday morning why he believes Draymond hurt the Warriors at the end of court.
“The problem is that Draymond is not playing well at the moment,” Barry told The Morning Roast. “It’s not a good thing. I mean if you look at his stats from two seasons ago, he goes down in every category, his minutes are obviously lower, his shooting percentage is lower than 2, his shooting percentage is lower than 3, his shooting percentage is lower than the free throw, and so he just needs to play again at the level he used to play.
“I mean they really need him. At the moment he became a liability, even in that game, I mean no one protects him, they force him down to the 3-point line and they walk away and he shoots 20- something percent from 3s., I mean why would you guard him out there, and it reduces his effectiveness, he should be able to knock down some of those 3.s If you look back a few seasons ago, he shoots 40 percent of 3s a lot of times. .
“So he’s in a bit of funk now and hopefully he can bring himself back to where he was a few seasons ago, but right now he’s not helping.”
Green has never been a 40 percent shooter of three points in his NBA career, at least not a full season, but Barry makes a good point about Draymond’s shooting numbers.
The soon-to-be 31-year-old is shooting 37.2 percent off the field this season, the lowest point of his career since his first NBA season, when he made just 32.7 percent of his efforts. Green’s 22.2 percent mark from downtown is also the lowest since his rookie year.
Green’s 71.1 percentage point from the free throw line is almost exactly the same as his career percentage on the line coming in this season (71.0).
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While he became a much less dangerous threat in 2020-21 than we have seen in recent years, Green is helping the best distributors in the NBA. Green ranks sixth in the NBA with an average of 8.4 assists per game.
The absence of Klay Thompson in court over the past two seasons has increased Green’s scores, as he has not recorded any double figures since 2017-18.
The breakout numbers of Steph Curry this season have not led to much progress in the War column for the Warriors, which has also led to some, including Barry, pointing the finger at Draymond.
Other issues, including the inconsistency of the rest of the fan team and questionable adjustments (or lack thereof) of coach Steve Kerr, played a factor in the Warriors’ inability to make more than a game or two above the 500 to climb.
Kerr spoke after the win over the Indiana Pacers Wednesday night over the fact that he does not need Draymond to score ‘in general’, but that he adds a few pickups is not painful on a night where the Warriors only on five three-pointers are not connected.
There’s the guilt to go around, and Draymond would probably be the first to tell you that he has not been as productive as he would have hoped this season, but his defensive intensity leaves the Warriors the best defense in the league over the last 15 games.
Being a more consistent shooter of three can help the Warriors ’offense, but Draymond can’t do much about it but make a higher percentage. He has never inspired much fear in opponents with his outdoor shooting, not even in his most successful seasons from downtown.
‘Liability’ may be a piece of green, but Barry is a Hall of Famer and six-time All-NBA pick, and his basketball prowess certainly qualifies him to analyze the game better than most.
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