Is draymond being exposed?

[Fierce1]

Last season the freedom of movement rule was implemented.

Draymond can no longer do his dirty tricks.

Before last season, Draymond manhandled bigs like Aldridge in the playoffs.

Draymond used to push, shove, and bump players on offense.
Can't do that now with the freedom of movement rule.
That's why Draymond looks less effective now.

[Moranis]

Statistically he really isn't that much different than he was last year.  I mean look at his rates.  His DRB% is up, his STL% is up, his AST% is the highest in his career, his TOV% is down, etc.  He is shooting slightly worse from 3 and significantly worse from 2, but he is getting to the line more frequently and hitting those better. 

All of that makes sense when your team loses 3 of the greatest offensive players in league history. 

Draymond is 29 and in his 8th year in the league.  Now maybe his minor injuries have taken a toll, but it would be pretty early in a career for a guy to drop off physically without an injury.  I think his stuggles are really just a factor of the team losing so many great offensive players.  Nothing more, nothing less.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

Being exposed at what though? Who ever thought he was more than a supreme role player? Everyone always knew he wasn't a scorer. I don't want to imagine what y'all would be saying about Smart in that situation! Out of one side of some people's mouth smart is an AS but now you're saying draymond was never one? I'll take Smart over Dray because I love him and his age, but at his best DG was a super smart!

[celticsclay]

To clarify Green has made both an all-nba second team and an all nba third team. He has also been a three time all-star. Obviously someone like Marcus smart that others are saying may be a similar time role player doesn’t have a single one of those accolades (or even really been close). If draymond really is not much better than smart it would be clear to say he has been overrated/exposed in my mind.

[Monkhouse]

He's actually putting up solid numbers in 28.6 MPG, his FG% and 3P% are lower than usual, (but he was never known as a scorer,) but it's pretty hard to dispute the fact that Dray is being exposed...

While I think his ability to score, and even make simple offensive plays minus playmaking has always been a problem, it won't be such a hindrance once Steph and Klay come back healthy.

[fairweatherfan]

To me Draymond was always an elite glue guy; he's not supposed to be someone who thrives as the best player on a team, he's supposed to be someone who is incredibly good at helping superstar-led teams reach maximum effectiveness.

I mean is the idea that he has to be LeBron dragging a pack of mediocre role players to a deep playoff run or he's been "exposed"? Of course not.

[ChillyWilly]

It's Steve Kerr who has been exposed. They still have 2 allstars on the floor.

[LilRip]

Draymond is an “all star” because his team wins.

Calling him a minor KG pretty much ignores KG’s scoring prowess. They’re similar defensively, I’ll give you that, but completely different on offense

[nickagneta]

He has been exposed as much as Rondo was exposed after the Big 3 we're gone, which is to say, when playing with all-time greats, elite role players will not be able to carry their team when they aren't playing with the truly great players any longer.

[Monkhouse]

Draymond is an “all star” because his team wins.

Calling him a minor KG pretty much ignores KG’s scoring prowess. They’re similar defensively, I’ll give you that, but completely different on offense

Yeah I don't get that at all...

A prime KG in today's NBA would probably be in the MVP discussion like almost every year until his prime ended. And even when his prime was coming to a close, KG ended garnering the DPOY in 2007-2008.

I mean, defensively Dray is a completely different player. The only similar thing Dray, Joakim Noah, and KG all share in common is their defensive versatility and endless motor.

KG was leaps and bounds far more advanced offensively that it shouldn't even warrant any discussion. If KG grew up in today's ERA, who knows if his post game would've been as good, but I'm pretty sure he would've definitely shot a lot more 3's or mid range jumpers. He was very hard to shut down, and only a select few like Duncan really bested him.

[PhoSita]

He's a great defensive player but his offense has never been very good, and especially in the last couple of years he's been a bit of a liability on the offensive end. 

It's not surprising at all that on a team completely lacking for scoring options (not to mention reasons to try on defense) he's failing to carry the team to wins.


Draymond is an amazing guy to have as the 3rd or 4th best player on a great team.  During the five year title run the Warriors just went through a great deal of his value was his ability to defend basically all five positions so that the Warriors could put their best offensive players on the floor in crunch time.



You don't want Dray to be the centerpiece of your team.  Doesn't mean he isn't super valuable.

[RPGenerate]

He wasn't exposed at all, since he's exactly what I thought he was; a fantastic role player. Nothing more, nothing less.

[moiso]

I don’t know if exposed is the right word but I certainly thought he would increase his scoring average by more than one point without all those high usage offensive players.  I thought he’d be excited to get extra shots and thought he’d be averaging near his career high.  That isn’t the case and he’s just doing his normal thing.

[celticsclay]

He wasn't exposed at all, since he's exactly what I thought he was; a fantastic role player. Nothing more, nothing less.

Hmm my question for this would be (and other posters have been saying this also) if he is just a fantastic role player, how has he made an all-nba second team and all-nba third team? Those means he was viewed by those that cover the league as a top 10 play and a top 15 player.

I think we would all agree Marcus Smart is an example of a great role player that is similarly defensively minded, and he has never even sniffed any of those accolades (and i can't imagine him doing so). Even if we enter the all-star break as the clear number one 1 seed on a 65 win pace I don't think he would get all-star consideration.

[PhoSita]

When Draymond was making All-NBA teams he was one of the best 4 players on the best team in the league and he was a DPOY candidate.  That doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

The nature of basketball is such that for the vast majority of players, even many of the most talented ones, the team context determines a great deal of a player's value.  Only a handful of players in the best league in the world can really claim that their value is not dependent on the players, system, coach, etc around them.

For that reason, the fact that Draymond no longer looks like a star when he doesn't have star teammates (and by the way he's got significantly more miles on a body that he's never taken great care of), doesn't lead me to the conclusion that he never should have been considered a star in the first place.