Golden State Warriors: 5 Midseason Takeaways

3. Draymond Green Is A Star

If you’re unaware that Draymond Green is a superstar in this league, you haven’t been paying attention. Though the Warriors’ human Swiss Army knife would hardly be considered the kind of player you can build a franchise around, he fits in perfectly in Golden State.

Why view that fact as some sort of negative limitation to his value rather than a celebration of the way he’s fully maximizing his potential — within his role — on a historically great team?

Green is more than a role player though; he’s intrinsic to what the Dubs do on both ends of the floor. Whether he’s capitalizing on 4-on-3 matchups and making plays out of Curry pick-and-rolls or allowing the Warriors to switch screens on defense because of his ability to defend all five positions, Green is as versatile a two-way player as anyone in the NBA.

In fact, he’s probably the league’s best power right now.

It’s not just the intangibles that only show up with the eye test either. A simple look at the stat sheet reveals that Green is an elite, well-rounded player. This season, he’s averaging 14.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.3 steals per game. Other than the steals, those are ALL career highs, and no player in NBA history has EVER averaged a 14-9-7-1-1 stat line.

Green is leading the Warriors in rebounds AND assists, but he’s also shooting the ball better than ever before, posting career highs in field goal percentage (46.8 percent) and three-point percentage (42.3 percent), which is incredibly impressive when you consider he’s attempting 3.6 long range shots per game.

Draymond Green leads the league in triple-doubles with eight, he’s the best defender on a top-five defense and the confidence and swagger he brings to this team is invaluable. When he burst onto the scene in that 2013 first round playoff series, most people figured Green would be a good player. But I don’t think anyone was expecting this kind of massive growth into stardom.

Next: No. 2