2. Will Draymond Green’s impact on the offensive end improve?
Draymond Green recently agreed to a contract extension with the Golden State Warriors worth $99.7 million over the next four years, which automatically places further pressure on him to perform at the level he did the season before Kevin Durant’s arrival (2015-16).
Green’s contract is the only one between Klay Thompson’s and Stephen Curry’s that includes a player option in the fourth and final year, giving him more incentive to increase his offensive production in order to possibly secure a larger contract in the future.
In the season before KD’s arrival, Draymond averaged a career-high 14.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists in 34.7 minutes per game while shooting 49 percent overall and 38.8 percent from 3-point range in 81 games.
Since KD’s arrival in the summer of 2016, almost all of Draymond Green’s main statistical averages dropped as he averaged 9.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.1 assists while shooting 44 percent overall and 29.8 percent from deep.
He did shoot a better clip at the free-throw line at 72.5 percent.
As the numbers show, Draymond did noticeably and expectedly struggle to continue improving on the offensive end with another superstar joining the team.
Notably, while most of Draymond’s offensive numbers regressed, he was able to keep active on the defensive end by averaging 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks a game (around his career averages) during those three seasons with KD.
In conclusion, Draymond will likely return to pre-KD form and be the player the Warriors need, especially in the absence of Klay Thompson this upcoming season.