Draymond Green is the Warriors’ Most Indispensible Player

NBA

If one of Steph, Klay or KD is out due to injury the Dubs can still compete for a championship. No chance if Draymond goes down. Why? Because defense wins championships.

Draymond Green is the Warriors’ key to reclaiming the throne. His defensive versatility and formidability keeps the Dubs championship contenders. They won the title in 2015 with Draymond as the main defensive cog when he was robbed of Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) award. If after last year Kawhi Leonard has established himself as DPOY stud #1, then Draymond is 1A and everyone else takes a number behind them.

We know the Warriors have the offensive firepower. That is even more evident with the arrival of KD. But with the addition of KD came the subtraction of Bogut and Ezeli. The two big body centers provided a key aspect of “rim protection,” everyone’s favorite buzzword phrase to describe the Warriors weakness. I understand that blocks is an easily digestible stat and observing the last line of defense swat the ball away is sexy. But rim protection is not what made the Warriors a top defensive team the past two years. What made them elite and will keep them there is their first line of defense, their ability to disrupt the offense.

Basketball offense is predicated on getting open and mismatches. It is why every offense runs screens to free up men for open looks or place men in superior matchups. A mismatch is where Steph torches big men out on the perimeter. It is where the Grizzlies’ ZBo and Gasol and the Spurs’ Aldridge pound on little men on the block. It is when Griffin “outathletes,” Lebron outmuscles and Harden “outquickens” their guy.

What Draymond does is level that equation. He bangs with the seven footers and moves with speedsters. This allows the Warriors to switch on every screen reducing open looks and containing mismatches. With Draymond hovering the Dubs use their wing length to rotate and contain. Their primary is not blocking every shot but rather making every option not a good one. It is why the Death Lineup is the scariest of it all.

The Warriors blew out a lot of teams last year with their centers playing the main minutes because they were simply better than their opposition. But what pushed the Warriors into a 73-9 stratosphere was the Death Lineup. Steve Kerr employed it in close games to separate and in trailing games to flip it. If you are unaware of its consistency, it is where undersized Draymond plays center and Steph, Klay, Iguodala and now Durant (formerly Barnes) fill out the small ball lineup.

The Death Lineup creates all the floor spacing and offensive mismatches the Warriors utilize. Opposing defenses cannot keep up. The Dubs become a scoring juggernaut but it is their personnel (specifically Draymond) that solidifies them as a defensive force. With the Death Lineup last season the Warriors outscored their opponents by 47 points per 100 possessions. Without the Death Lineup, Steph and Co. do not turn the tables and take down Lebron in 2015. Without the Death Lineup, 73 wins is a dream, not a reality.

Without Draymond, 2017 is another missed championship.