2015 NBA Free Agency: Draymond Green

The 2014-15 NBA season may be in the rear view mirror, but owners and general managers around the league are keeping an anxious eye on Jul. 1. As they prepare to loosen their purse strings to reel in free agents they hope will alter the fates of their franchises for the better, the season of rumors, misinformation and half truths is just settling in.

It’s great for fans — after all, there’s an undeniable schadenfreude in watching teams make Joe Johnson a $120 million man, back the Brinks truck up to Erick Dampier‘s house, go bananas for Rashard Lewis or get jilted by Hedo Turkoglu. Yes, the sultry, basketball-starved dog days of summer are rarely short of drama; there just shouldn’t be any coming out of Oakland.

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In the wake of helping secure first title in four decades for the Golden State Warriors, Draymond Green is set to hit restricted free agency and receive a…substantial pay increase, leaving Stephen Curry as the last remaining Warrior who is ludicrously underpaid.

So as the NBA audience looks on in awe at the seasonal theater of certain players leveraging their way into contracts way above what their on-court production would merit, feel free to disregard any hint of discontent emanating from the financial discussions taking place between Warriors brass and Draymond’s camp over the coming weeks.

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Though the NBA is often (rightfully) referred to as a “star’s league,” there still exists a vast middle class of players with a pecking order and valuation strata all its own. Aside from the Miami Heat’s aristocratic existence atop the food chain for the last several years, recent champions are littered with examples of these types of players.

Think Boris Diaw in San Antonio, Lamar Odom in Los Angeles, or the entire Dallas Mavericks rotation outside of Dirk Nowitzki. The versatility afforded by employing one or more of these “B+” guys is invaluable, as they accentuate stars’ best attributes and bridge the gap between top tier talent and true “role players” while rarely commanding the money of their more acclaimed brethren.

While there may be some debate about whether or not Green will command a full, max-level contract from the Dubs or merely something near it, there isn’t much of a discussion to be had about his value to the team’s success. Somewhere in that indefinable expanse between the cliche of a coach’s dream that “does the dirty work” and a true superstar lies Draymond’s true worth.

Though, similar to calling Mike Conley “underrated”, it’s difficult to pinpoint when praising Green’s immense (yet not traditionally identifiable) importance transformed from prescient analysis to overwrought truism. However, his max-level value to everything the Warriors do on both ends of the floor isn’t really up for deliberation.

Though Green averaged career-high numbers across the board in pouring in 11.7 points, pulling down 8.2 rebounds and dishing out 3.7 assists per game, those raw stats wouldn’t typically merit discussion of max money. Yet anyone watching Warriors games this year could easily see Draymond’s intrinsic value in almost any Warriors offensive or defensive possession.

Green’s court vision and passing ability kept the ball whipping around the floor as Curry’s gravitational pull left him alone at the top of the circle with juicy 4-on-3 mismatches to sink his teeth into. Additionally, his defensive adaptability allowed assistant coach Ron Adams’ switching schemes to be fully realized amid an endless barrage of like-sized length.

In spite of Green’s litany of less easily quantifiable qualities, none of this is to say that those inclined toward raw data can’t find something to like about his game. In addition to rounding out his classical box score with a healthy 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks per game, Green also ranked in the top five of Defensive Win Shares, Defensive Rating and Defensive Box Plus/Minus, per Basketball-Reference.com — all while receiving the most first-place votes for Defensive Player of the Year despite finishing second to San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard overall.

When trying to credibly gauge Draymond Green’s value as it pertains to his next contract, it’s important to maintain a certain degree of nuance. Veering too far to one extreme or the other does a disservice to his talent, the Warriors’ greatness as a team, or both.

While it’s difficult to imagine Green being the kind of true superstar who can elevate a team of lesser players to contention on the strength of his individual skills, it’s also completely unfair to attribute his excellence solely to the quality of his teammates or as strictly the product to any “system”. The two are inextricably linked.

Without Green’s versatility, the Warriors’ defensive malleability suffers, but without the nightmare-inducing long range sorcery of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, his offensive intelligence might go underutilized.

In the coming weeks, all sorts of provocative headlines will flit across Twitter feeds and sports tickers, hinting at rocky negotiations or simmering interest in various trade proposals. Some of these reports may even pertain to the Golden State Warriors and Draymond Green’s restricted free agency. Yet, regardless of the smoke being blown about and fanned by divergent agendas this time of year, it’s not likely from any real fire in the Bay.

Next: Golden State Warriors: 10 Steps To Winning The Title

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