Draymond Green at center? Warriors must maintain balance

PHOENIX – In the X and O department, perhaps the biggest swing of the pendulum for the Warriors is how much they let Draymond Green play with or without center next to him.

Green and head coach Steve Kerr prefer to play the majority of Green’s minutes against either Trayce Jackson-Davis or Kevon Looney. It protects the 34-year-old from the physical demands of boxing and working on positioning during larger, often more powerful tasks. The setup also helps defensively, as Green can roam as a help defender instead of being trapped in the other team’s center.

But playing green at five creates completely different spacing for the Warriors, which is particularly advantageous for Jonathan Kuminga. Historically, Golden State has used Green at center in key situations, including final games, beating teams with speed, athleticism and Green’s generational defensive prowess. They’ve used the look for more than half of Green’s minutes this year.

The Warriors have started Green alongside Jackson-Davis in almost every game this season; The exception is their most recent game against the smaller Thunder, where Green started with Kuminga at power forward alongside him. On paper, it comes down to the importance of optimizing Kuminga’s downhill skills and how many miles they can afford on Green.

“I’ve never been one to not do what a team needs,” Green said after the loss to the Thunder. “I’m proud to be who the team needs.”

The Suns, Golden State’s opponent on Saturday, happen to have a similar problem. With Jusuf Nurkic’s viability fluctuating depending on the matchup, Phoenix has played 10% of its minutes at five against Kevin Durant – especially not at center. That won’t be a problem on Saturday as Nurkic (foursome) is out.

But the Warriors’ conundrum seems more pressing given how central it is to their identity.

According to Cleaning The Glass, Green has played 53% of his minutes at center. As the eye test suggests, Golden State was better in these situations, but only slightly. They are +10 per 100 possessions when Green plays the four, compared to +11.3 when he plays center.

By all accounts, the Warriors are willing to continue starting Green at power forward.

“I have every confidence that Draymond will play the five, but only for limited minutes,” Kerr said. “I think we start with Trayce and Draymond and let Draymond play the four. And then I enjoy getting to Draymond at five minutes in the game, whether it’s 10 or 15 minutes. I think this is very meaningful and a really strong lineup for us, especially with JK at the four.”

The Warriors’ current starting lineup of Steph Curry, Lindy Waters III, Andrew Wiggins, Green and Jackson-Davis has outscored opponents by 11.1 points per 100 possessions. Things went even better when De’Anthony Melton – who is out this season with a sprained ACL – was at shooting guard, but the foursome looks solid.

Last year, Green played 70% of his minutes at center, which was his career high, but largely out of necessity. The Dario Saric experiment failed and Kevon Looney had a poor season, leaving Green as the best option and a rookie Jackson-Davis as his replacement.

The move coincided with Golden State’s strong second half, but it wasn’t pleasant.

“I don’t think it’s a wise decision over the course of the year,” Kerr said.

While unlocking Kuminga is certainly important, especially since Golden State has struggled offensively during its current three-game losing streak entering Saturday’s game, keeping Green fresh is the top priority. The Warriors are 6.1 points per 100 possessions better when Green is on the court than when he sits, regardless of position. He’s had a great start to the season and the Warriors need him healthy to continue.

Making it more of a focus would not be a step in that direction. Boxing out centers and taking penalties on screens, in transition and in post-ups adds up. Guards Nurkic, Isaiah Hartenstein, Nikola Jokic, Rudy Gobert, Anthony Davis and Ivica Zubac come with bumps and bruises.

“Physically it’s a big difference,” Looney said. “You play against the five, it will always be the biggest one on the pitch. He will always be the one to beat you on every play. You’re there for every action.”

With Curry and Green, the Warriors are learning to manage the health of aging stars.

From a health perspective, the status quo works for the Greens. It helps that the Warriors have more options than last year.

“I play five,” Looney said. “We have Tracey. Draymond plays some, Kyle (Anderon) plays some. So we have corpses. I just think it’s about what look Steve wants. Sometimes when he wants to play faster and go smaller, Draymond is perfect for that. He was great at that throughout his career.”

Remarkable

– The Suns have ruled out both Bradley Beal (left calf) and Nurkic before their game against the Warriors.

“They have capable reserves, so we just have to adjust to the other personnel,” Kerr said.

– Since Suns superstar Kevin Durant left the Warriors, Kerr has coached him in two different Olympics appearances. By the end of Durant’s tenure at Golden State, it was clear he was “ready to move on and take on a different challenge,” Kerr said.

“We would have liked to keep him forever, but that wasn’t the intention.”

– Both Andrew Wiggins and Steph Curry warmed up at the Footprint Center with the expectation that they would play. They were each listed as questionable on the official injury report.

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Draymond Green at center? Warriors must maintain balance

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