SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors’ situation at the center position is a Catch-22.
At this stage in his career, and with the way the league has trended with big men, Draymond Green is a center.
The 34-year-old Green needs extra maintenance, though. The 6-foot-6 defensive savant endures more physical punishment at center, banging bodies inside on box-outs. And the Warriors can’t afford to put another non-shooter beside him in today’s pace-and-space era.
“I can do it, I’m cut out for it,” Green said when asked if playing full-time center is sustainable.
Since the Warriors made their midseason rotation changes, Green has played almost exclusively at the five, save for a few minutes with rookie center Trayce Jackson-Davis. Green’s defensive prowess and playmaking ability have always made Golden State’s small-ball lineups lethal. But they’ve always come in small doses to prevent running Green into the ground, and that’ll be even more important as he ages.
“He’s best suited for the five in the modern game,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Everybody spreads you out and makes so many 3s.”
To keep Green healthy and productive long-term, the Warriors might need to save his minutes at center for high-leverage spots. The best way to do that would be to acquire or develop a center who can stretch the floor to play alongside him.
Golden State has seemingly come to the same conclusion. The Warriors reportedly targeted 6-foot-11 stretch center Kelly Olynyk at the trade deadline. They signed Dario Saric to give them minutes as a floor spacer this year, but he stopped hitting shots in February. JaMychal Green last year was supposed to play that role.
The Pacers, who come to the Chase Center for a Friday night game with playoff implications for both teams, have a prime example in Myles Turner. The 27-year-old center has often found himself in trade rumors over his nine-year career because of his ability to stretch the floor on offense and protect the rim on defense.
Since veteran center Kevon Looney has fallen out of favor, the need for another center who can play next to Green has never been more apparent. Green has been dealing with a back injury for several weeks and missed last week’s game in Dallas to reset his health. He sandwiched two excellent games — in Los Angeles and against the Grizzlies — with a dud against New York in which he seemed to be laboring.
Before his 10-point, 12-rebound, 7-assist performance against the Grizzlies, Green revealed that he needed to go through a “full session” in the morning with trainer Rick Celebrini to get his body right. That entailed three-and-a-half hours of table work, core workouts and getting shots up. He thought it would take 90 minutes.
Celebrini kept telling Green “one more.” The session worked, getting Green’s body in a “good place” and stronger, he said.
It’s still a lot for a 34-year-old to go through just to feel ready for one game. The Warriors have Green under contract for at least the next two seasons (he has a player option for 2025-26) and nothing’s going to get easier as he ages.
Especially if he keeps playing 30 minutes of center a night.
“It’s definitely more taxing, because at the five, you’re involved in every possession,” Green said. “Fours don’t crash every time, so you may not have to box out every possession. At the five, you’ve got to box out every play. Fives are trying to get the offensive rebound every play. Even something as simple as that, call it 20 more box-outs a game — that’s contact, that’s a battle.”
Green has complete confidence in Golden State’s training staff to get him healthy enough to play, he said. Still, he said that in recent weeks he’d overcompensate even his shooting motion because of his sore back the day after games.
Performance staffs have more information than ever to make medical decisions. Teams have cameras to track in-game player movement and biometric-tracking wearables during practices.
Kerr said the training staff doesn’t factor in who Green is guarding as a data point for health, but that seems like it’s already concluded: Playing heavier minutes at center takes more of a toll.
A center like Turner could play alongside Green because the Pacers big can shoot 3-pointers well enough for defenses to respect him on the perimeter. Turner shoots 34.3% from deep this year and has taken at least four triples per game in each of the past five seasons. Defenses need to at least pay attention to him when he’s behind the arc.
The same can’t be said about Green, Looney or Jackson-Davis. Even with Green shooting a career-high 39.4% from 3, defenses are still happy when he shoots. Pairing Green with a center like Looney or Jackson-Davis while also playing Jonathan Kuminga — who isn’t yet a consistent 3-point threat — doesn’t provide enough spacing.
Turner has also led the league in blocks twice, blending the rare combination of rim protection and outside shooting.
It’s not easy to find a player like Turner. Of players 6-foot-10 and taller, only 12 shoot 3s with volume (at least four per game) and precision (at least 34%). The list includes players like Kevin Durant, star rookie Chet Holmgren, and All-Stars Karl-Anthony Towns, Kristaps Porzingis, Lauri Markkanen and Paolo Banchero.
They do change hands occasionally, though. Boston acquired Porzingis last summer for Marcus Smart and two first-round picks. Towns’ name could be floated in rumors if Minnesota flames out of the postseason early. Who knows where Jabari Smith Jr. stands in the pecking order of Houston’s rebuild? Chicago’s Nikola Vucevic is flawed but might be a decent fit and shouldn’t cost much in draft capital.
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Regardless of how this season ends, the offseason is shaping up to be pivotal for the Warriors as their dynasty continues in its late stage. To pry open their championship window with Steph Curry, Mike Dunleavy Jr.’s front office will need to take a big swing.
A stretch center will likely have to come from outside the roster. Besides Jackson-Davis developing a reliable outside shot to keep defenses honest, the Warriors don’t have any internal candidates likely to mature into a stretch five. And the rookie shoots just 55.9% from the free throw line, which is often an indicator of shooting stroke.
The Warriors once hoped former No. 2 pick James Wiseman would develop into the Turner mold. They haven’t found a true replacement for the role since they realized he wasn’t the answer.
For both Green’s sake and theirs, the Warriors will have to find one.