Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr defends Draymond Green's negative rating in the last ten games.
Draymond Green has been an important player in the Golden State Warriors' dynasty, but his play has slipped this season.
Green has been a negative player in terms of plus-minus in ten of the last 13 games for the Warriors. That means the team has been outscored when he's been on the court in those ten games.
"When I hear people say, 'Draymond's been a negative for the last 10 games,' I'm like, 'Well, he's been a positive for the last 12 years,' so let's settle down here. Let's give it some time," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told Willard & Dibbs.
Kerr noted that the analytics department tells him to "be careful with small sample sizes."
On the season, Draymond does have a positive plus-minus per 100 possessions this season as the Warriors are at +2.6 points better when he's on the court and +2.1 points better compared to when he's off the court.
Kerr Believes In Draymond's Impact
"He's still, in my mind, the best option defensively that anybody in the league can have," said Kerr in his continued defense of Dramond.
He continued, "You have to allow for all circumstances that are involved. Where the league is, how people are playing. I'm going to keep hammering home that if we take care of the ball and get offensive rebounds, then we're going to be a really good team and Draymond is going to be on the plus side. It's an adjustment that he and our team have to make."
"You can't get too carried away with the numbers. You have to study them and take them with a grain of salt, too."
Kerr pointed to Draymond's playmaking in the last three games as part of his impact. Draymond is averaging seven assists to only one turnover in his last three.
Being A Plus Player
While Draymond continues to be a plus player for the Warriors, the numbers have dipped from last season. Last year, the Warriors were 6.8 points better per 100 possessions with Draymond on the floor, and 6.7 points better when he was off.
Not accounting for the 2019-20 season, when the Warriors were a bottom-of-the-league team, Draymond has been a plus player his entire career. However, this season is his lowest plus-minus impact since his rookie season.
His defensive box plus minus remains on the plus side at 1.7, but that's also his lowest number since his rookie season, which was 1.4. His DBPM last season was 2.8.