Outside of the San Antonio Spurs organization and adoring fan base, the name Danny Green wasn’t one that garnered much attention from opposition during their game plan. That all changed as of the Spurs title run, in which they fell short to the Miami Heat when Green broke future Hall-of-Famer Ray Allen’s NBA Finals’ record for most 3-pointers made with 25.
One postseason, 213 points, 48 more 3s on .475 percent shooting and an NBA championship later, Green’s name is one that now strikes fear into the heart of every coach who’s job is to somehow try to limit his success on the perimeter.
But is that it for Green? Is his entire career going to be based around living beyond the arc or could he develop into a more well rounded scorer to help make what would be one of the most revered wing duos in the NBA with Kawhi Leonard?
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Last season, Green launched a total of 505 shots and made 218 of them, which is good for 43 percent from the field.
But of those 505 attempts, 318 came from beyond the arc, which equals out to 63 percent of his looks coming from deep. This isn’t something you will likely ever see any of his teammates or Gregg Popovich complain about as he hit 41 percent of his looks from long range last season, but with Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker not getting any younger, Green will have to incorporate more than just a knack for the 3 in the future to continue to stay relevant on a team that always has championship aspirations.
Per basketball-reference.com, only 10 percent of Green’s attempts came between 16 and 23 feet and he was able to knock down 32 percent of those looks. Only 6 percent of his shots came between 10 and 16 feet and he was able to knock down a horrid 21 percent of those shots.
The three- to 10-foot distance was only made up of 8 percent of his looks, but he was able to cash in on a pretty efficient 45 percent of them. And finally, within three feet of the basket made up 12 percent of his attempts and he knocked down 70 percent of those, as you could expect with most of them being layups or dunks.
But if you look at his numbers inside the arc, you can see why he is so one-dimensional. Green either hits at a high clip from that distance but simply doesn’t make it a larger part of his offensive arsenal as seen with everything from 10 feet and in or shows no ability or even the will to knock down the average mid-range jumper.
If a simple man like myself can figure this out and would know to just defend Green with my life on the perimeter and let the rest take care of itself, I’m sure the NBA personnel guys and players who make millions to do this wouldn’t have a problem figuring this out either.
There’s no question that Green is now one of the many Spurs’ players who the opposition has to prepare against specifically. With San Antonio heading into the 2014-15 season with the infamous target of being the reigning NBA champs on their back, with Green being a key reason they had such success, something as simple as locking down what would be arguably the Spurs’ fifth of sixth offensive option could be detrimental in the rest of the league’s efforts of hindering a back-to-back title run.
If Green could transform into an overall more adept scorer from anywhere on the court, it would not only open up a world of opportunity for himself, but for the Spurs as a unit and make them even more challenging to outscore.
Is this something that’s likely to happen? I would say yes with one of the greatest coaches of all time on his side and only heading into his sixth season. But then again, his numbers and preferences in each of the shooting categories have stayed pretty consistent since his arrival into the NBA, which shows a lack of development outside of his long-range game.
It’s going to be interesting to see how Green handles what could become a turning point in his career with the upcoming season and whether or not he can take that step out of the simple “role player” category.
I’d have to give the nod to Popovich’s ability to turn practically anybody into a crucial asset so my money is going to be on Green making some significant strides toward his abilities inside the arc as the Spurs look to earn their sixth NBA title.