Draymond Green Slims Down in Offseason
The NBA offseason is a bit of an anomaly. The variance in players that go from game-shape to a comfortable offseason conditioning level is high, with some spending all hours in the gym while others enjoy the time off. There’s no right way to spend an offseason so long as you pick up a basketball and get some work in to improve your game.
For Draymond Green, the offseason has always been a time for him to get to work. His level of strength and conditioning from his early days as a Warrior is noticeably different and has correlated to success in his game, allowing him to be rangy and mobile while still bodying up against some of the best bigs in the game. We’ve seen Green’s condition in the offseason change before, and he’s looking like he’s keeping up that trend this year:
Green’s mobility as a defender for his size has always been good, but thinning down a bit should help him even more-so. This will come more at the expense of his ability to maintain a strong post position, but with the emergence of Kevon Looney’s post defense and James Wiseman making his return to the court, it makes sense that he’d see some different levels of conditioning in order to cover the “no man’s land” part of a defensive scheme (often the high paint, long midrange area).
There’s also been discussions in the field of sports science about what being less bulky can help in terms of shot mechanics. We’re about 6 years removed since Draymond shot 38% from three in a season, mostly because his role has changed from needing to do really any kind of scoring to being more of a stopper and facilitator. That figures to continue now that Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole have established themselves, but it’s an added bonus.
As mentioned, this is probably the slimmest we’ve ever seen Draymond Green. A change in weight will allow his game to shift in ways that add new wrinkles to his game and conditioning as a player. While we’ll definitely be seeing plenty of the same Draymond in terms of his skills, some added variety will help to boost the Warriors as they look for a title repeat.
(Photo credit: John Locher / Associated Press)