Draymond Green's contract looks like a 5-year bargain for the Warriors. Props to him for coming back a better player after getting $82 million guaranteed.
Daymond Green. Can defend all 5 positions on the floor, dribble, hit 3ptrs, great passer, high motor and competitive spirt. Very unique. #paid
Still don't think he can be a top option a la Curry/Lebron/Harden/etc., but undoubtably worth the max.
If the team got money to pay him he deserves near max or max He is great but not a franchise cornerstone kind of player or 2nd superstar
I wouldn't call him a superstar but he definitely is the 2nd best player on one of the best teams of all time. A team that cruised to the title last season and is undefeated so far.
What's a superstar anyway. Like the "no numbers superstar"? Yes, you probably can't run an offense through him (even though the Warriors kind of do this, but it's due to the double team Curry draws), but you don't want a team full of people you have to run your offense through. If Green was on our team, he would instantly turn our defense around. His competitiveness/swagger/attitude is infectious, he could probably make Harden put effort into defense... If you're talking about the leader of the 17-0 Warriors, Curry is their best player, but Green is their leader.
No. Dray is much better defender and shooter. Most amazingly, Dray gets his assists without dominating the ball. He isn't the primary ball handler on this team and he's still getting 7 assists a game. He is playing like a consistent, non-turnover-prone, 40%+ 3 point shooting version of who Josh Smith was for us last year.
I believe that Draymond's offensive success is strongly linked with the Warriors' system. So many of his assists are "hockey assists" that come as a result of their emphasis on "read and react." Nothing wrong with that, but my point is that he wouldn't look as good if he ended up signing with his hometown Pistons.
Unquestionably he is playing above his stand-alone level because of the system. But that's not his fault, either. The players are also making the system as much as the system is making the players. Dude has almost doubled his assists per 100 possessions over last year. He dishes out more than Curry does. Hockey assists indeed, but there are plenty of players who aren't capable of doing that effectively. See: Houston Rockets, who seem to consistently struggle with the decision of when and how to hit an open guy off a hockey assist. He's a PF that can defend as good as almost any NBA player out there, dishes out a crazy number of assists, has a 60%+ true shooting percentage, can hit free throws and rebound effectively... all while his usage rate has gone slightly down this year.
We are seeing the same thing but there aren't a lot of guys, even traditional wing guys, who can make those hockey assists while playing elite D. And even on a traditional team like the Pistons he would be still be playing elite D, going all out every posession, and spreading the floor. I'm sure his assists would go down but his points would likely shoot up to 15+ in a more traditional stretch four role launching 3's around Drummond. Shooting 42% from deep on 4 attempts per game. Shooting 77% from the FT line. Excellent for a PF/C. Getting 8 rebounds per game. Solid, not great, not bad from your PF Getting 1.5 blocks per game. Great production from a non-Center Ability to guard literally any position on a switch without compromising the entire defense. Those skills translate in any system and are SUPER RARE for a PF
Green is worth the money he is being paid. He is a huge part and a product of the GSW system. That is not to say he wouldnt be productive elsewhere but his value is at its highest when playing with GSW. On GSW's side they would not be able to find another player like Green without paying the same dollar or higher (especially if its a higher caliber player or a bigger name) I think the deal worked out for both sides. Green got paid well and GSW was able to keep a huge part of their championship core at a decent price for them. The 82 million Green will get pales in comparison to the amount the team will generate from sales, tickets etc. over the next few season as they contending for championships
Outside of perhaps the top-five or top-ten players in the game, no one would look as good in a system they're ill suited to. However, the point is that he'd be a tremendous player on a lot of teams. Asked to carry a team's scoring load, he wouldn't thrive. Asked to work with a ball-dominant superstar, he'd basically be the perfect co-star...which means he'd be a perfect superstar in Golden State, Houston, LAC, Okalahoma City, Washington, Cleveland, Memphis, New York, etc. He'd also be a great fit in San Antonio and Atlanta, obviously. When he'd be a superstar on so many teams, it no longer makes sense to discount his value as a "system player." He's basically the type of player who'd be great on any but a barren roster. And even on a barren roster, he'd upgrade their defense a ton.
That's a weak statement, as well as pure speculation. Paul Millsap did the same thing on Utah as he is on ATL. PFs like green who can shoot, dribble, pass and play elite defense are more the reason coaches can run advanced systems; the system don't create them. You have it turned around.
