Golden State Warriors: Which Star Will Sacrifice The Most?

The addition of Kevin Durant for the Golden State Warriors will call for sacrifices to be made by the current stars on the team. Who will have to sacrifice most?

When a player as polarizing and talented as Kevin Durant decides to join the roster, there is without a doubt, some adjustments and sacrifices that will have to be made to the team around him.

But when that team is the Golden State Warriors, the transition of adding a superstar such as KD to go alongside Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green seems like it will the smoothest we’ve seen in the history of the NBA.

Still though, there will have to be sacrifices made. It’s already been seen as the Warriors had to depart with seven of their players from the 2015-16 season in order to make room for Durant’s cap number. The sacrifice that remains to be seen until the regular season begins is which star will take the biggest hit, and there’s already been hints that that player will be Draymond Green.

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Unlike Curry or Thompson, Green can have a huge impact on the game without filling up the scoring column of the stat sheet.

His stat line for the 2015-16 — 14.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.4 blocks per game — can help back that statement. Each of these averages were career-highs for Green, but his scoring average could be the one that takes the biggest hit in 2016-17.

This isn’t to say it will be a dramatic drop-off, but with Durant demanding at least 11-20 shots per game, shots may be less common for Green to come by in comparison to years past, especially putting into mind Thompson and Curry still having to get their attempts in as well.

This summer, the trio of Thompson, Green, and Durant get to experiment with each other in Team USA play as they head to Rio for the Olympics. Last night, the group played their third exhibition game in order to prepare and it happened to be at Oracle Arena, Durant’s new home facility.

He didn’t disappoint. Durant opened the game by scoring the team’s first 10 points. He finished with 13 for the game, but each time he touched the ball, the crowd would ignite like never seen before in a Team USA exhibition matchup.

Team USA is not the Warriors obviously, but dismissing how the trio works this summer together will likely carry over into the regular season would be ignorant. Let’s take a look at what the averages look like for the three future teammates through the first three exhibition games.

Durant: 18.3 PPG, 3.3 APG, 3 RPG, 9.0 FGA

Thompson: 13.6 PPG, 3.0 AGP, 2.3 RPG, 11.6 FGA

Green: 2.3 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.6 APG, 4.0 FGA

Now obviously Green’s statistics won’t look similar to this for the Warriors next season, but the number to pay attention to here is the field goal attempts. Last season, he averaged 10.1 FGA per game. As a result of his scoring average that is likely to drop, it will be a result of fewer shot attempts because of the number Durant, Thompson, and Curry will hoist per game.

If you take last season’s averages of field goal attempts from Durant, Thompson, and Curry, they would be projected to take 66 percent of the team’s shots per game. Green already was only taking 14 percent of the shots on last year’s team, so inserting Durant into the lineup will only mean that percentage will drop, even if it’s just slightly.

If you ask Green, he isn’t concerned at this point with the possibility of him getting less looks at the rim. In an interview with Basketball Insiders’ Alex Kennedy, it was the defensive side of things that made him most exited about the addition of Durant:

"“I think it’s a great fit. The way we play defense, he can play defense that way. On the offensive end, he shoots the ball just as well as anyone in the NBA. I think one thing that he really adds to us is that he’s a guy who can get a bucket at any time, in any way.“When you’re talking about guys who can score from every area on the floor, you’re talking about Kevin Durant. But the thing that I’m most excited about is the defensive end—the length that he adds to our defense. I just keep thinking of how incredible that’s going to be.”"

Green is a player with the old-school mentality of winning. He doesn’t care if he’s averaging 20 per game and lighting up the box score categories. The most important thing to him is that his team has the lead when that final buzzer sounds.

However, any player that is expected to take fewer shots is accepting a sacrifice to their game. Luckily for Green, he can control a game by doing other things such as crashing the boards, setting up teammates with or without the ball, and by being a menace on the defensive end.

More hoops habit: San Antonio Spurs: 2016 Offseason Grades

So while there will be some adjustments in Golden State this season, they will all be for increasing the chances of them hoisting their second Larry O’Brien trophy is the last three years.