The Golden State Warriors are in a state of flux. After starting the season in disappointing fashion, the team is currently the 8th seed. While things have improved slightly over the past couple of weeks, their recent performances have not been inspiring, leading to calls for widespread changes. One of these includes the call to bench, or even trade veteran forward Draymond Green. However, one voice has come to his defense.

“When I hear people say, ‘Draymond’s been a negative for the last 10 games,'” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said on the Willard And Dibs show. “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.'”

The concerns are not unfounded. Green, over his last ten games, is a -2.1 plus/minus on average, managing just three games with positive figures. Against the Utah Jazz, he logged a -15 plus/minus, which is the third-worst figure he has logged this season.

This indicates that the team is being outscored with him on the court, a damning claim for someone who prides himself on defensive stops.

To make things worse, Green is also experiencing a down year across multiple categories. He’s averaging his lowest assists per game (5.4) and rebounds per game (5.8) since the 2013-14 season. Moreover, the 35-year-old is averaging his highest turnover average since 2022-23 at 2.8, along with a career high in fouls per game at 3.2.

According to Cleaning the Glass, when he’s on the floor, opponents turn the ball over 2.1% less times than the league average, which puts Green in the 11th percentile of power forwards in this statistic.

However, Kerr coming to Green’s defense means a lot, given the highly publicized incident between the two a couple of weeks ago. In a game against the Orlando Magic, Kerr and Green got into a heated argument during a timeout, leading to the forward abruptly heading to the locker room before returning later in the game. He did not get back out on the court that night.

Clearly, the two have moved past it.

“The League Has Changed”: Draymond Green Admits Costly Reality While Changing Habits

The Golden State Warriors have started to turn things around lately, but familiar issues have begun to resurface. Even as the Dubs manage to find wins, turnovers continue to plague a veteran-heavy roster that no longer has the same margin for error it once did.

The Warriors are now averaging 15.8 turnovers per game, something that continues to keep opponents within striking distance.

“We’re not the same team we used to be,” Green told reporters after the win against the Milwaukee Bucks. “The league has changed. Teams feast on those turnovers.”

This wasn’t an excuse. Even in the Warriors’ prime, they averaged some of the highest turnovers rates in the league due to their passing-heavy offense, but now, the team is significantly weaker and the league has already caught up to them.

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Stephen Curry praised Green and the rest of the team for the change in their mindset coming out of the gate against the Bucks, noting a sharpness that hasn’t been entirely consistent this season.

The challenge now is turning that focus into cleaner execution, because in today’s league, even small mistakes can undo a night as quickly as they happen.