Draymond Green

Expectations were high for Green in 2019-20. With Kevin Durant leaving Golden State and Klay Thompson unavailable due to a torn ACL, many fantasy managers believed Green would take on an expanded role similar to what he saw pre-Durant. However, Steph Curry went down quickly with a broken hand and things became dire, with the Warriors an abysmal 4-16 to start December. Green's play and availability descended as well, missing 22 games and averaging 8.0 points on just 38.9 percent shooting, 6.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.4 steals in 28.4 minutes. That led to his worst per-game fantasy ranking (eight-category) since his second season in the league. Heading into 2020-21, expectations for Green should be on the rise again, despite fantasy managers getting burned last season. While Thompson will be out again due to a torn Achilles, Curry and Andrew Wiggins are healthy, the team added Kelly Oubre via trade, and James Wiseman was selected with the No. 2 overall pick. With more to play for, Green may be able to have a bounceback season at age 30.

Green, who appeared in only 66 games due to injuries, is coming off the lowest usage season of his career (13.1%). That was reflected in four-year lows in points (7.4), rebounds (7.3) and assists (6.9) per game. His three-point shooting also continued to slide, as Green's 28.5 percent mark represented the third straight year of decreased efficiency from beyond the arc. But much of Green's value comes on defense. He was selected to his fifth All-Defensive team, averaging a combined 2.5 steals/blocks. And Green's declining offensive stats can probably be attributed to the presence of Kevin Durant over the past three seasons. With Durant now in Brooklyn and Klay Thompson out for much of 2019-20 due to a torn ACL, Green's usage could vault back up to 2015-16 levels. That season marked Green's first All-NBA selection, and he averaged 14.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists, a combined 2.9 steals/blocks and 1.2 made threes.

While Green remained an All-Star last season, he didn't perform as well as we're used to seeing from him in a few aspects of his game, though some of that may have been due to a shoulder injury that limited him to 70 games. While his scoring (11.0) and passing (7.3) hovered around their usual marks, Green posted his fewest rebounds (7.6) and steals (1.4) per game since the 2013-14 campaign. He also shot threes at the worst percentage of his career (30.1) other than his rookie year. Still, his across-the-board production and the fact that he remains a nightly double-double, and even triple-double, threat keeps his Fantasy value high. He posted 38 games with double-digit points, 22 games with double-digit rebounds and 11 games with double-digit assists. Green even accumulated nine games with at least three steals and 10 games with at least three blocks. It’s not exactly clear how the addition of DeMarcus Cousins to the Warriors will affect Green’s usage, though it seems unlikely his presence will put Green’s All-Star status in jeopardy.

It was inevitable that multiple players on the Warriors would have to relinquish some responsibilities on the offensive end in 2016-17 following the big-ticket signing of Kevin Durant last summer, and as it turned out, Green and Stephen Curry were the main victims. The decline in production was less acute for Curry, who still averaged 25.3 points per game and led the NBA in three-pointers by a wide margin, but Green wasn’t quite as fortunate. Green’s drop in scoring average (from 14.0 points per game to 10.2) would have been more palatable if it hadn’t been accompanied by a massive declines in shooting efficiency, as the forward shot 41.8 and 30.8 percent from the field and 3-point range, respectively, both of which were down significantly from his 2015-16 marks. To Green’s credit, he didn’t chafe at the reduced role on offense, as he remained a willing passer (7.0 assists per game) and ratcheted up his effort on the defensive end, where he was arguably better than ever. Green became the first player since 2008-09 to record at least 150 steals and 100 blocks in a season and routinely matched up with both wings and centers to great success, which earned him his first Defensive Player of the Year honor. With Durant inking a two-year extension with the Warriors in July, Green will remain the clear No. 4 option most of the time when he’s on the court, so a dramatic bounce back in the scoring column shouldn’t be expected. However, if Green can more or less maintain his still-impressive across-the-board statistical production -- he recorded five triple-doubles last season -- and veer closer to his career 43.5 percent mark from the field, he’ll stand a good chance to improve his overall Fantasy value during the upcoming season.

While Stephen Curry became the NBA’s first unanimous MVP, it’s tough to argue that Green wasn’t the heart and soul of the best regular season team in league history. In his fourth NBA season, Green took his all-around production to another level, averaging 14.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per game and becoming the first player ever to reach each of those statistical baselines in a single season. Green, who finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting and seventh in MVP voting, shot a career-best 49 percent from the field and 38.8 percent from distance, both career bests. While Green should only continue to improve as he enters his age-26 season, he, and the rest of the Warriors, will have to adjust to playing alongside Kevin Durant. Durant shouldn’t directly impact Green’s stranglehold on his hybrid power forward/center position, but Durant’s status as a high-usage player could decrease Green’s role as a playmaker. As a result, Green’s scoring and, in particular, his assist numbers, are likely to regress, though his other counting stats and shooting efficiency should be relatively safe.

A training-camp injury to David Lee opened up an opportunity for Green, who grabbed the starting power forward job, never relinquished it, and became a breakout star in 2014-15. In 79 games, he averaged 11.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.3 blocks in 32 minutes per game. That's some serious multi-category production. Green's not all trash talk. He's worked hard on his game since entering the NBA in 2012-13, particularly in the area of shooting. A 33-percent shooter as a rookie, Green improved to 44 percent last year while becoming a credible threat as a three-point shooter. As Warriors head coach Steve Kerr navigated the season, he discovered his best lineup was a smaller unit that used Green as a center on some occasions. He defends every position on the court and has one of those off-the-charts basketball IQs, which he uses to study video and spot opponents' tendencies. He became indispensable to Golden State and the organization recognized that. It took the team less than a day into the free-agency period to sign him up for another five years and $82 million. That's not bad money for a former second-round pick.

Green made great strides between his first and second NBA seasons. Known as a multi-purpose gadget in the Warriors' toolbox – he plays two positions, defends three, and has a basketball IQ off the charts – Green showed an improved shooting touch in 2013-14 and earned himself nine more minutes per game. As a rookie, Green bricked his way to 33-percent field-goal shooting and just 21 percent from three-point range. In his sophomore season, Green improved in those categories to 41 and 33 percent, respectively. His improvements as a shooter allowed former head coach Mark Jackson to give Green more playing time, which meant he could use a variety of skills to impact games. Green rebounds, defends, blocks shots, and moves the ball well. Above all, he plays with confidence. In 82 games, Green averaged 6.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.9 blocks in 22 minutes per game. With the Warriors a little thin in the frontcourt, Green should get minutes at power forward, and he'll be a staple in the lineup when new head coach Steve Kerr wants to go small.

Green will reprise his role off the bench as the Swiss army knife in head coach Mark Jackson's toolbox. There's not one defined role or spot in the rotation for him. He plays three positions, is a willing defender, rebounds, passes, has good court sense and doesn't lack confidence. On the other hand, he doesn't shoot the ball well (33 percent FG, 21 percent 3Pt), nor is he possessed with great athleticism. He averaged just 13 minutes per game as a rookie in 2012-13, and a deeper wing rotation this season will keep a lid on his opportunities.

The Warriors gave Green a three-year contract with two years guaranteed, so they’re high on the second-round pick and four-year collegiate from Michigan State. Green has basketball smarts and can make an impact without the ball, though it’s hard to see him playing a big role this season. Working against him is the dreaded “tweener” label – too big as a three, not big enough as a four. Still, the Warriors feel they have a ball-player in Green.