Latest: The reason Draymond Green’s max-contract value is directly tied to Stephen Curry

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Draymond Green is a one-of-a-kind. Nobody in basketball has more unique talents and clear limitations than four-time NBA champion, all of which may be enhanced or reduced based on the level of opponent, time and score as well as team-wide ecology in which he’s participating.

That doesn’t mean it’s impossible to deduce the overall worth of green.

On Green, the Golden State Warriors’ postseason defense relied more than anybody else. According to Cleaning the Glass, their defensive rating was 9.0 points tighter with Green on the floor, an outstanding score achieved by Green extinguishing fires all around the floor and preventing them from blazing in the first place.

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Despite his advanced age, Green is still a standout switch defender. After Game 1, Steve Kerr switched the matchups and made Jaylen Brown his primary defender for extended periods of time. However, the idea that Green’s exceptional defensive impact is solely dependent on his ability to switch is out of date and does a disservice to his overall brilliance on the defensive end of the ball.

During the Golden State Warriors’ championship run, some say that the team shifted too much. Although Stephen Curry’s surprise toughness in potential mismatches and Jordan Poole’s minor improvement under that duress throughout the course of the playoffs helped the Warriors’ defense, it wasn’t the result of their tight defense. The Warriors’ long-term success on the court was largely due to Green’s ability to do whatever the team needed, whenever it needed it.

What percentage of NBA players are able to dodge a three-second violation, call out an upcoming flare screen in the opposite corner, and then apparate on the flight of the ball for a blocked three-pointer?

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Green is the best defender in the NBA at manipulating space, and he does it better than anyone else. He has a knack for overcoming numerical disadvantages and making offensive advantages moot.

Green is the all-time league leader in pick-and-roll defense.

Jaylen Brown splits Curry in the first action, enticing Boston’s star into an uncomfortable lob attempt just in time for Robert Williams III to retreat into the legs of Robert Williams III.

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He’s never out of the game even if he’s been beaten, Green.

The Celtics young superstar was goading Tatum into a turnover by instantly peeling off onto Williams, knowing that Kevon Looney would trap the box well before getting beaten baseline by Tatum.

If you were in the same room as Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala or Shaun Livingston, it was easy to mistake Green for his team’s overall defensive excellence. I’m not going to say it anymore. It’s been obvious to anyone who’s been paying attention for some time now that he’s a force to be reckoned with.

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Golden State’s defense is led by Green, just like the offense is led by Curry. It’s not out of the question to think that he could help any club, regardless of their roster or style of play, achieve above-average defense in the playoffs.

That alone justifies Green’s alleged desire to sign a contract with the highest level of compensation. But he has the same effect on offense as he does on defense, just in the opposite direction.

A few minutes into the fourth quarter of Game 4 at TD Garden, Kerr benched Green in favor of Poole and Kevon Looney, a move that became legend when the Warriors went on to win the game. When the game was over, he returned to the field and grabbed an important offensive rebound before hitting Looney for a dump-off layup.

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Even so, it wasn’t a mystery why Kerr benched Green while his team’s championship hopes were in jeopardy. All series, the Celtics dared Green to shoot and eat up space off the dribble, which resulted in a horrendous collection of missed shots, futile attempts at the rim, and careless turnovers.

Draymond Green scored 6.2 points per game on 43.5 percent shooting in the paint and 2-of-16 from outside the arc against the Celtics, averaging a double-double. Green’s offensive game improved after Kerr reduced his role, running less offense through Green from the top of the floor and encouraged him to exploit space on the catch by instantly charging into dribble hand-offs and quick-hitting ball screens rather than go for his own shot.

The data is in line with the results of the eye test as well. According to NBA.com/stats, the Warriors’ offensive rating against the Celtics was 112.3 when Curry and Green were on the court, but it dropped to a pitiful 90.9 when Curry, the reigning Finals MVP, was sitting on the bench. Green’s previously strong assist totals plummeted in his absence, and his shooting dropped even further.

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Just because Green’s Finals offensive utility was related to Curry doesn’t mean he’s a bad player. Even while Kevin Durant was playing in the Bay Area, the Warriors were unable to put up league-average offensive numbers with Curry sitting on the bench throughout the Kerr era. Curry is the league’s best offensive facilitator, and it’s not even close.

While Green relies on Curry’s unparalleled gravity, other players like Durant, Wiggins, Thompson, and Poole don’t. With Curry, Green’s passing and screening skills are magnified while the reverberations of his shooting and finishing problems are minimized. He is more like Looney or the deceased Gary Payton II in that respect.

As good as Steph Curry is, Draymond Green would not be in the position he is today to make these extremely high-level playmaking reads.

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When he isn’t running screening action with a guard who has two defenders on the ball, what happens to Green as a short-roll playmaker? How many of Green’s normal passing windows would be gone if he played for a team that didn’t get the vast majority of its offense from cuts? Without shooters like Curry, Thompson, and Poole to create defensive terror, would he be such a destructive transition engine?

Green’s worth to the Warriors is clear from the replies, which are as relevant to the NBA as they are to any other team’s.

Golden State should re-sign Draymond Green to a long-term contract extension because of his contributions to the team thus far and the potential for future championship success. In the event that the company refuses to meet his demands for a new contract next week or an extension this week, he won’t be able to take his hard-earned value to the open market.

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He’s not a top-tier player for any other squad.

At 32, Green is plainly nearing the end of a career that has been bolstered by one of the best offensive players in league history. Green’s past successes don’t carry the same clout with the rest of the league. His Hall of Fame credentials are unaffected by these acknowledgments, and they do not diminish his stature in the league’s historical defensive hierarchy.

It would be prudent for Draymond Green, who is known for his smugness, to put the Warriors’ contract negotiations in the back of his mind should he ever consider leaving the team.

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