Hoops Habit
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NBA: Off-season weakness each star should have worked on

By Josh Cornelissen

Mar 22, 2021; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) chats with Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine (8) during the first half of an NBA game at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 22, 2021; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) chats with Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine (8) during the first half of an NBA game at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors
Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors. Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images /

27. Draymond Green, PF/C, Golden State Warriors – Taking open shots

Draymond Green has a legacy as one of the all-time great supporting stars, a defender among the likes of Dennis Rodman or Ben Wallace but also a passer in the vein of Jason Kidd or LeBron James. In both areas he has been and is an elite impact player, a major part of the Warriors reaching five straight NBA Finals.

There was a time when Green brought scoring impact as well, including the 2015-16 season when he shot 38.8 percent from 3-point range and averaged 14 points per game. Those days are long gone, and Green took just 6.0 shots per game last season, shooting an abysmal 27 percent from 3-point range.

Green has learned ways to punish teams for completely sagging off of him, but he will have to go a step further and regain some of that shot aggression. The gravity of Stephen Curry opens up space for slip-cuts and other jaunts to an open rim, and Green knows when those open up as he loves to hit teammates in that open space. Sometimes the defense dictates that he should be the one blitzing to the rim, and he needs to stop demurring and be the one to attack the rim.

Shooting wide open 3-pointers with confidence, and looking for his own shot more often around the rim, are two relatively simple ways for Green to help this team’s spacing, if not its scoring, and put even more pressure on opposing defenses.