Why the Warriors need Draymond Green to be elite now more than ever

Four-time NBA champion Draymond Green has recently been making numerous headlines and for not great reasons

It's time for the Green to move on from the situation (for which he was at fault) and refocus himself on the pursuit of winning a fifth NBA championship. With Jordan Poole's departure and still lacking another defensive anchor, Green will have to be elite. 

Last season, Green averaged 8.5 points -- his highest since the 2017-18 season -- along with 7.2 rebounds and 6.8 assists. The former Defensive Player of the Year also significantly strides in his efficiency, shooting a career-high 52.7 percent from the field and surpassing the 30 percent mark from beyond the arc for the first time since 2017-18. 

That cannot slip. 

"I was being viewed as a non-shooter because I was doing so much to get those guys involved (Stephen Curry & Klay Thompson) and in turn, I lost my confidence," Green told Paul Geoge on the Podcast P Show. Adding, "I'm working to get that confidence back still."

If Green can somewhat re-acquire the long-distance shooting he demonstrated earlier in his career (38.8 percent in 2015-16), it could elevate the Warriors' offensive system to new heights. 

On the defensive front, Green remains one of the best in the game. In a win last season, former Warrior guard Ty Jerome said, "What he did tonight was one of the most unreal performances I've ever seen on the defensive end." 

Green's defensive win shares, which estimate the number of wins contributed by a player on the defensive end, remain impressive year after year, having reached 3.1 last season. Furthermore, Green led the playoffs in defensive box plus/minus (a metric that measures the per-100-possessions point difference when a player is on the court versus off) at 4.1.

Most importantly, Green is going to have to demonstrate that he is a leader whom his teammates can trust both on and off the court. 

"[Draymond Green & Jonathan Kuminga's non-relationship is a problem and it can only be fixed by Draymond," Monte Poole, a reporter for NBC Sports told Bay Area radio station 95.7 The Game.

After signing a four-year, $100M contract, Green will now have to live up to that price tag.