PHOENIX — In the X’s and O’s department, perhaps the biggest pendulum swing for the Warriors is how much to play Draymond Green with or without a center next to him.
Green and head coach Steve Kerr prefer to play either Trayce Jackson-Davis or Kevon Looney with Green for the bulk of his minutes. It protects the 34-year-old from the physical demands of boxing out and working for positioning against bigger, often stronger assignments. The configuration also helps defensively, allowing Green to roam as a help defender instead of being locked into the other team’s center.
But playing Green at the five creates vastly different spacing for the Warriors, which is beneficial especially for Jonathan Kuminga. Historically, Golden State has used Green at center in big spots, including closing games, blitzing teams with speed, athleticism and Green’s generational defensive acumen. They’ve deployed the look for more than half of Green’s minutes this year.
The Warriors have started Green next to Jackson-Davis almost every game this season; the exception is their most recent contest, against the smaller Thunder, in which Green started with Kuminga playing power forward next to him. The balance, on paper, comes down to how important it is to optimize Kuminga’s downhill ability versus how many miles they can afford to put on Green.
“I’ve never been a guy who won’t do what a team needs,” Green said after the Thunder loss. “I pride myself in being whoever the team needs me to be.”
The Suns, Golden State’s opponent on Saturday, coincidentally have a similar issue. Because Jusuf Nurkic’s viability fluctuates based on certain matchups, Phoenix has played Kevin Durant — notably not a center — 10% of his minutes at the five. That won’t be an issue on Saturday, with Nurkic (quad) ruled out.
But the Warriors’ conundrum appears more urgent given how central it is to their identity.
Green has played 53% of his minutes at center, per Cleaning The Glass. As the eye test would suggest, Golden State has been better in those situations, but only slightly. They’re +10 per 100 possessions with Green at the four compared to +11.3 when he plays center.
By all accounts, the Warriors are in line to continue starting Green at power forward.
“I’m a huge believer in Draymond playing the five, but for limited minutes,” Kerr said. “I think we’re in a really good place with Trayce and Draymond starting, letting Draymond play the four. And then I like getting to Draymond at the five within the game, whether it’s 10, 15 minutes. I think that’s very meaningful and a really powerful 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. It was even better with De’Anthony Melton — who’s out for the season with an ACL sprain — playing shooting guard, but the core-four looks sustainable.
Last year, Green played a career-high 70% of his minutes at center, but it was mostly 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 backup.
The move coincided with Golden State’s strong second half, but it wasn’t comfortable.
“I don’t think it’s a wise choice over the course of the year,” Kerr said.
While unlocking Kuminga is certainly important, especially as Golden State has struggled offensively during its current three-game losing streak entering Saturday’s game, keeping Green fresh is the ultimate priority. The Warriors are 6.1 points per 100 possessions better with Green on the court than when he sits, regardless of position. He has had a terrific start to the season, and the Warriors need him healthy to continue.
Playing him more at center wouldn’t be a step toward accomplishing that. Boxing out centers and taking punishment on screens, in transition, and on post-ups adds up. Guarding Nurkic, Isaiah Hartenstein, Nikola Jokic, Rudy Gobert, Anthony Davis and Ivica Zubac comes with bumps and bruises.
“It’s a big difference physically,” Looney said. “You’re playing against the five man, that’s always going to be the biggest guy on the court. He’s always going to be the one hitting you every play. You’re in every action.”
With Curry and Green, the Warriors are learning how to navigate the health of aging stars.
In a health sense, the status quo is working for the Green. It’s helpful that, unlike last year, the Warriors have more options.
“I play the five,” Looney said. “We’ve got Trayce. Draymond plays some, Kyle (Anderon) plays some. So we’ve got bodies. I just think it’s about what look Steve wants to go with. Sometimes when he wants to play faster and go small, Draymond’s perfect for that. He’s been great at that his whole career.”
— The Suns ruled out both Bradley Beal (left calf) and Nurkic before their game against the Warriors.
“They’ve got 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 deployments. It was clear by the end of Durant’s tenure with Golden State that he was “ready to move on and take on a different challenge,” Kerr said.
“We would have loved to have kept him forever, but it wasn’t meant to be.”
— Both Andrew Wiggins and Steph Curry warmed up at the Footprint Center with the expectation that they’d play. They were each listed on the official injury report as questionable.
