The Golden State Warriors are battling to secure a guaranteed playoff spot down the home stretch of the 2022-23 season. Having carelessly squandered winnable games earlier in the season, they have little room for error now and every game matters. With a crucial matchup against the New Orlean Pelicans slipping away last night, Draymond Green lit a spark under the Warriors and they eventually came away with the W. A lot of the post-game analysis has focused on the energy that Draymond brought, the trash talk, and his dicey dance with risking a second technical foul.
Amidst all the extracurriculars, one may lose sight of the ways in which Draymond sparked the Warriors on the court. It wasn’t all barking and chest puffing. Draymond Green turned in an elite defensive performance, helping the Warriors hold a Pelicans team that has had the seventh best offense over the last two weeks to just 109 points. Draymond remains one of the best defenders in the league and one of the greatest all court defenders the sport has seen.
Early in the third quarter, Draymond (playing at the 5 in Steve Kerr’s small ball starting lineup) stonewalled Jonas Valanciunas into a travel with old school post defense, despite giving up half a foot and over 30 pounds.
How many players could do that and also match CJ McCollum step for step when isolated out on the perimeter?
Watch the clip above closely, at how many times Draymond pivots his hips, maintaining his crouch while shuffling his feet to prevent McCollum from blowing by.
Draymond’s value as a defender has always gone well beyond his on ball defense though. Very few players read the floor as well as he does, alert to rotations, knowing when to drop back versus switch out. He nails all the subtleties of positioning and timing, which can often be the difference between help that busts an offense and help that barely registers. A great moment in this NBA season came during a Sacramento Kings game, when Steve Jones Jr. pointed out how Coach Mike Brown provided Terence Davis an in-game teaching moment:
Davis’ initial mistake was not his lack of help, but his positioning. Coming a step back ensured that the help actually…well, helped. With that in mind, watch Draymond Green’s positioning rotating over before Brandon Ingram’s pull-up here:
By waiting at the base of the free throw circle, Draymond is in position to put in a meaningful contest; any deeper and that is an automatic bucket for Ingram (shooting nearly 50% on short mid-rangers this season per Cleaning the Glass). Tune in earlier and you see Draymond tagging Jonas Valanciunas on his cut, allowing Draymond to camp out in the lane three seconds longer and be in position to help on the Ingram drive.
The best team defenders exhibit an understanding of space and positioning that can be hard to notice in real time. Dissecting a single play can reveal a lot. Watch this play in its entirety:
First, Draymond is up at the level of the screen to deny Ingram any opportunity to step into a pull-up jumper. Jonathan Kuminga, who turned in another impressive defensive display, obviates the need for that by navigating around the screen well, but Draymond provides valuable insurance.
Then, Draymond immediately drops back, knowing that Valanciunas is not as much of a threat to pull up…
…which proves important because that puts Draymond in position to swiftly move over and deter Herb Jones’ baseline drive. Had Draymond started above the nail, it is possible he would have been too late in sliding over.
Draymond’s help position forces Jones to drive around (notice that Draymond is planted outside the restricted area). The Warriors get a little lucky when Jones flubs the layup, but that he was even in a position to get a shot off is more so because Klay Thompson doesn’t cover Draymond’s rotation in time.
Traditional defensive counting stats like blocks and steals have never been where Draymond has made his mark, but the Warriors have consistently been a better defensive team with him on the floor. The Warriors are nearly 10 points per 100 possessions stingier with Draymond on the floor than off this season. Their defense is equivalent to the league best defense with him on (110.5 points per 100), and the league’s worst defense with him off (120.5 points per 100). Tellingly, the percentage of opponent shots that come at the rim drop by over five percentage points with Draymond on the floor, one of the best marks in the league for big men despite Draymond not having the profile of a traditional rim deterrent. That ability to protect the most valuable real estate on the floor is a symptom of the defensive value that he. brings.
Golden State does not defeat New Orleans without Steph Curry’s 39 point explosion and they remain on the fringes of contender status this season. Playing in a contract year, Draymond Green remains an elite, offense-busting defender though.