Hoops Lab: Give Draymond His Props

Stephen Curry is a ridiculous basketball player. He's a beast.

But Draymond Green is just as important to the success of the Golden State Warriors as Curry.

Curry leads the league in scoring. His true-shooting percentage is up near 68 percent, the highest mark in the league, is CRAZY for a volume-shooting perimeter player who creates off the dribble. I wrote last month about how his parking-lot shooting range completely warps defenses and makes life way easier for his teammates.

But Draymond Green is every bit a key for the Warriors as Curry.

Curry leads the NBA in every advanced box score measure. He leads the league in PER, offensive win shares, total win shares, win shares per minute, offensive boxscore +/-, overall boxscore +/-, and value over replacement value (stats from Basketball Reference).

But if you took Draymond Green off the Warriors, they would suffer just as much as if you removed Curry.

This was illustrated again this past week. When Curry missed a game in December, the Warriors immediately got blown out by the Mavericks and it was taken as proof that Curry is indispensable to the otherwise nigh-unbeatable Warriors.

But last week, the Warriors reportedly wanted to give Green a couple games off against the Nuggets and Lakers, two of the worst teams in the NBA. If the season ended today and the draft was based purely on record, they would each have top-8 picks, with the Lakers back in the No. 2 slot. What happened? Without Green, the Warriors immediately lost to the lowly Nuggets and were uncomfortable enough that they decided against sitting Green that second game against the Lakers.

Repeat: the Warriors were scared that they might lose to the LAKERS if they sat Draymond Green for a second game.

That's how important Green is and the impact-stats back it up. This year, the Warriors are a whopping 28.6 points per 100 possessions better with Curry on the floor. But they're 27.6 points per 100 possessions better with Green on the court as well (both marks are double-digits better than any other Warriors rotation player). The same held true last season, when the Warriors were 17.9 points better with Curry on the floor but also 15.4 points better with Green.

So the question is: why? Curry's method of impact is obvious. What's Green's?

In a lot of ways, Green is the present-day analog to what Scottie Pippen did for the Bulls. The 1990s are remembered as belonging to Michael Jordan, but Jordan didn't start sniffing championships until Pippen came of age. Pippen was good at doing a bit of everything and playing in such a way that Jordan's impact could be maximized. Jordan could scare defenses to death with his individual prowess, but Pippen was the one that ran the offense more times than not. It was Pippen that often took the most difficult defensive assignment and captained the defense the way that Jordan captained the offense. Because of how excellent Pippen was at facilitating on offense and spearheading a dominant defense, Jordan's offensive genius was maximized on a record-setting team.

In 2016, Green is doing the same thing for Curry and the Warriors.

When Curry pulls the opposing defense out past the three-point line and draws double-teams off the on-ball pick, it is Green more times than not that ends up running the point-power-forward and leading the Warriors in their 4-on-3 offense. Green slid in the draft because he was supposedly undersized for a power forward, but in reality his size has helped him optimize as an excellent ball-handler for a big. You couldn't just put any big man in there as the hub for the Warriors' offense when Curry is doubled. No, the Warriors need Green's ability to penetrate off the dribble, find open teammates and/or finish in order to maximize Curry's offensive impact.

Similarly, the Warriors are entertaining and could compete with their offense alone. But they are champions because they have a defense to match. And Green is the unquestioned captain of the defense. The so-called undersized Green is a MAN, playing rugged defense and physically outworking his opponent even when playing center. Green has active hands, is disruptive, plays excellent help defense, makes all of the right rotations and, perhaps most importantly, is the vocal leader and orchestrator that keeps the team defense on track. When Green is off the court the Warriors allow 110.8 points per 100 possessions, almost 12 points worse than the stingy 98.9 points per 100 possessions when he's playing. Green was very deserving of his top-2 finish in the Defensive Player of the Year voting last season, a ballot on which he actually had more first place votes than anyone else, and he'll deserve attention for the award again this season.

Stephen Curry is the reigning most valuable player in the NBA, and he looks to be a shoe-in to win the award this season. But it's possible that he may not even be the most valuable player on his own team.

Around the NBA

• Joakim Noah had surgery on his dislocated shoulder, a procedure with a four-to-six month timetable. Considering that even the four-month mark would be in May, well after the end of the regular season, Noah is done. The Bulls have several interesting big man options that needed minutes and will have a bigger opportunity with Noah out, including Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis, in addition to vets Pau Gasol and Taj Gibson.

• Victor Oladipo missed his last game with a sprained right knee and has already been ruled out for Wednesday's game. Oladipo had been playing well before the injury, as had re-claimed a spot in the starting lineup. It is unclear how long Oladipo will be out and it is also unclear whether he will hold onto the starting job when he returns. In the short term, especially in DFS leagues, keep an eye on Elfrid Payton and/or Evan Fournier to pick up the slack.

• Kristaps Porzingis had to leave in the fourth quarter of Monday's game with a sore right foot. While the removal was considered precautionary, he is listed as questionable to play Wednesday, so there must have been a bit more to the injury than initially expected. More information should be forthcoming from the team some time Wednesday, perhaps after morning shootaround.

• Tony Parker left Sunday's game with soreness in his right hip and did not return. There has been no official word on his prognosis, but Parker previously missed two games with the same injury earlier this season. The Spurs' next game isn't until Thursday against the Suns and their last-in-the-NBA defense against opposing point guards. If Parker is unable to play, Patty Mills would be expected to get the start and would make a solid DFS play.

• Jameer Nelson has missed two straight games with a left wrist sprain. This made the Nuggets' transition from starting Nelson at point guard to starting Emmanuel Mudiay as painless as possible. Mudiay has played well in Nelson's absence, and as the young rookie on a lottery-bound team, Mudiay would be expected to hold the starting position and play progressively more as the season continues.

• The Miami Heat are down two point guards, with Goran Dragic struggling through a calf injury and Beno Udrih out with a neck injury. This has opened up the way for Tyler Johnson to start, and outside of a clunker Tuesday, he has been a DFS find and a worthy fill-in spot-starter in their absences.

• Otto Porter has been ruled out for Wednesday's game, which will mark his fourth straight absence due to a hip injury. He has been replaced in the starting lineup by Kelly Oubre, but Garrett Temple has been the biggest beneficiary to Porter's lost production.

• Though not confirmed, it has been reported that Julius Randle may have suffered a broken nose Sunday against the Rockets. Randle had started the game due to the injury absence of Larry Nance Jr., but he could miss time if his nose is actually broken. Lakers coach Byron Scott has already announced that the starting power forward gig will still belong to Nance when he's healthy, but Randle is the bigger producer, even off the bench, and has double-double potential every time he starts.

Back-to-backs 1/20– 1/27
TW: Heat, Timberwolves, Thunder
WT: Hawks, Cavaliers, Pistons, Kings
TF: Clippers, Spurs
FS: Celtics, Hornets, Bulls, Pacers, Lakers, Bucks, Knicks, Jazz
SS: none
SM: Rockets
MT: Heat, Magic, Kings, Wizards

New Additions and DFS value

Taj Gibson (54 percent owned in Yahoo! leagues)/Bobby Portis (11 percent owned): With Joakim Noah out for the season, Gibson seems to be solidified as a starter and Portis should get a larger role off the bench. Both are capable of taking advantage of their circumstances, especially in DFS formats where their values would likely exceed their price tags.

Donald Sloan (24 percent): Sloan has moved into the starting point guard slot for the Nets, replacing the injured-for-the-year Jarrett Jack and relegating Shane Larkin back to the bench. Sloan has been solid in his new role, averaging 10.7 points, 9.0 assists and 7.0 rebounds per game in his three starts.

Tyler Johnson (13 percent): As mentioned above, Johnson is the starting point guard in Miami for as long as Goran Dragic and Beno Udrih are out injured. This could be very short-term, but in DFS especially it's still relevant. Johnson had averaged 15.5 points, 5.0 boards and 4.0 assists in 35 minutes per game in his two outings leading into Tuesday.

Garrett Temple (11 percent): Temple has been getting extra playing time for a while, first with Bradley Beal injured and lately with Otto Porter out. He has taken advantage of his extra time to the tune of 11.8 points, 3.5 boards, 3.3 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.8 blocks, 1.8 treys and only 0.7 turnovers in 31 minutes per game over his last six.

Patty Mills (4 percent): Mills becomes a very viable option if Tony Parker's injury causes him to miss any time. Mills has the ability to score, knock down treys and generate a handful of assists in any game he starts.