San Antonio Spurs Still Great, But Danny Green Is Weighing Them Down
By Ti Windisch
His poor play hasn’t done much to slow down the San Antonio Spurs, but Danny Green’s production has fallen off of a cliff this season.
When the San Antonio Spurs inked Danny Green to a four-year, $40 million contract it was seen as a steal. Green was a valuable three-and-D player for the Spurs, an above-average defender and shooter on the wing.
To see him making just $10 million per year was astonishing, especially considering other wings around his stature like DeMarre Carroll and Wesley Matthews got $15 million-plus deals in free agency.
When Green was asked about the deal, he answered in typical Spurs fashion:
"People keep saying that I took less. I think I took what I was worth." -- Danny Green
— Dan McCarney (@danmccarneyNBA) July 21, 2015
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As the months go by in 2016, that quote is starting to make more and more sense. San Antonio is home to one of the best two teams in the NBA, but that’s despite having Green, not because of his contributions. To put it simply: he’s been bad all season.
Well, on one end at least. Green’s defense is still as strong as ever. He’s an important piece of the Spurs defense, which has been the stingiest in the NBA all season. He’s also posting a career-best season in terms of defensive box plus/minus and defensive rating.
His offensive stats aren’t so pretty. Until this season, they were all good if not great. Looking through Danny Green’s seasons with the Spurs prior to this one is a pretty boring affair, unless you’re very excited by consistency and quality.
The consistency since he became a real part of head coach Gregg Popovich’s rotation is remarkable; his field-goal percentage has been between 43 and 45 for the last four years, and his three-point percentage has been between 41 and 44 for that same stretch.
| Season | G | GS | MP | FGA | FG% | 3PA | 3P% | eFG% | FTA | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-12 | 66 | 38 | 23.1 | 7.2 | .442 | 3.5 | .436 | .549 | 1.5 | .790 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 9.1 |
| 2012-13 | 80 | 80 | 27.5 | 8.3 | .448 | 5.2 | .429 | .581 | 1.0 | .848 | 3.1 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 10.5 |
| 2013-14 | 68 | 59 | 24.3 | 7.4 | .432 | 4.7 | .415 | .562 | 0.9 | .794 | 3.4 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 9.1 |
| 2014-15 | 81 | 80 | 28.5 | 9.1 | .436 | 5.6 | .418 | .566 | 1.6 | .874 | 4.2 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 11.7 |
| 2015-16 | 42 | 42 | 25.5 | 7.1 | .357 | 4.2 | .326 | .455 | 0.5 | .783 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 6.9 |
| 6 seasons | 345 | 299 | 25.6 | 7.9 | .431 | 4.7 | .412 | .554 | 1.1 | .829 | 3.5 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 9.7 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/19/2016.
And then you see 2016, and notice Green’s percentages falling off of a cliff somewhere in San Antonio. Green is shooting 35.7 percent from the field and just 32.6 percent from beyond the arc. Danny Green was never supposed to be a star for the Spurs, but he was certainly expected to be better than this.
Last season, Green made four or more three-pointers in a game 18 times in 81 games. Through 42 games this year, he’s done that just twice. At first glance, that can be attributed to Green playing on a completely different team than last year.
After all, with LaMarcus Aldridge around and Kawhi Leonard ascending to another level, there are fewer shots to go around. That’s true, but Green took around the same number of shots per game in 2014 as he is now, and made 9 percent more of them.
In that season Danny Green played just 69 games, but still managed to nail at least four threes in a game 13 different times. He’s on pace to do that less than four times in 82 games this season.
And although Green is seeing three fewer minutes per game, he’s still a full-time starter on this team. His sharp decline hasn’t stopped the Spurs from challenging the Golden State Warriors for the title of best team in the NBA, but it’s not an insignificant detail.
A machine like the one that operates in San Antonio needs every piece to be running perfectly to work right. When the Warriors are flowing, as they were when they throttled the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night, they have no weak links.
The Spurs are disciplined and talented enough to run over most teams in the regular season without being perfect. But when it matters most, in the playoffs against teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Clippers, or those Warriors? There’s no room for a misfire in Game 7. These Spurs know that all too well from last year.
If Popovich still trusts Green enough to start him at that point and he’s still got the worst true shooting percentage and offensive rating on the Spurs, it’s going to cost San Antonio. Green’s performance this season is a lone glitch in an otherwise flawless program.
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And in a year when the goal can be no less than hoisting a sixth Larry O’Brien Trophy to end Tim Duncan‘s magnificent career with a flourish, Green’s poor play is worrying. It’s too soon to say the Spurs can’t win a title with Danny Green struggling like he is now, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on as the postseason draws near.