In many ways Draymond Green revolutionized basketball and the idea of small-ball lineups, with the veteran forward having often proved so effective playing well above his size as the center in many Golden State Warriors lineups.
But for as fruitful as Green has been as a small-ball five, the downside has always surrounded his body and how battling on the interior against the league’s best big men would impact his longjevity.
The Warriors may now be paying a price for their small-ball minutes
Green returned from a three-game absence against the Washington Wizards on Saturday, only to leave just three minutes in due to a calf injury. After initially labelling it as calf tightness, the Warriors confirmed that Green will miss Monday’s meeting with the Boston Celtics due to a strain that’s likely to keep him sidelined for more games to come.
Perhaps this new calf issue is just a freak injury that could have never been forecast, but it’s surely not a total coincidence that Green and fellow veteran Kyle Anderson are now both out of the lineup after a recent period in which Steve Kerr leant heavily on small-ball lineups.
For a nine-game stretch between December 23 and January 7, Kerr controversially left backup center Kevon Looney largely out of the rotation. The 3x champion played just 50 minutes across the nine games — an average of less than six minutes per game that also included four DNP’s.
During that same span starting center Trayce Jackson-Davis averaged 26 minutes. Combine the minutes of the center pair and that leaves at least 16 minutes per game where Golden State were utilizing Green or Anderson as small-ball five.
Fast-forward less than two weeks and the Warriors may now be paying a steep price for that. While it’s impossible to quantify how much of an impact (if any) the small-ball minutes may have had on Green and Anderson’s respective injuries, you can bet that they certainly wouldn’t be helping in keeping the veteran pair at peak physical condition.
Golden State are now left without any of their usual power forward options, with Jonathan Kuminga having suffered more of a freak injury earlier in the month when he turned his ankle significantly against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Steve Kerr may now be left to start second-year forward Gui Santos in Green’s absence, while fourth-year wing Moses Moody has also taken a surprise power forward role over recent games. It’s something the Warriors can’t really afford as they try and cling to a spot in the Play-In Tournament, but it’s also the consequences of putting a significant physical toll on two players who are well and truly into the latter years of their career.
