By Charles Jay
We are not sure whether this is something that sent shock waves through the NBA, but it is always a significant thing when an important player for the world champions may not be around for another season. That was almost the case with Draymond Green, the versatile power forward who entered free agency and was giving the Golden State Warriors an opportunity to come up with an offer before he went to speak to other teams. These two sides were apparently very far apart with regard to the terms of such an agreement, but they ultimately came together on a five-year pact worth $82 million.
As BetAnySports customers know, when a player like Green gets into the open marketplace, there is going to be some demand for his talents.
That is because he has now demonstrated that he can be one of those “glue” guys who does a lot of the little things that are required to win. Green seized the starting power forward spot shortly after training camp when David Lee, a two-time All-Star, went down with a hamstring injury. And he never gave it up. The Michigan State alum was not only a force on the boards, but was also known as a defensive stopper. In fact, he ranked fourth in the league in Defensive Rating, and was also the runner-up to Kawhi Leonard for Defensive Player of the Year.
In using the NBA vernacular, which sports betting patrons may be very familiar with, Green shaped up as quite possibly a “Max” player, meaning that he might command the maximum salary allowed by the NBA salary cap rules. Some of the early signings, including Paul Millsap’s reported deal with the Atlanta Hawks for three years and $59 million, more or less set the market for Green’s price. He won’t get as much per season as Millsap, but he gets a starting salary of $14.26 million.
Green was a “restricted” free agent, and that meant if the Warriors wanted to match another team’s offer, they had the ability to do so and keep him, so there was some protection. But they nipped that possibility in the bud, and you’d have to say that there was at least some attraction for Green to return to a world championship team.
This was the first season in which Green started more than a dozen games. In case you are interested in statistics, which really don’t tell the whole story, He averaged 11.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, shooting 52.3% on his two-point attempts. He was also something of a threat from three-point range, hitting 33.7% for a team that used a lot of spacing by bringing its big men out. Green was very useful in the post-season when the Warriors wanted to go “small,” which, as BetAnySports customers are well aware, met with great success at times. Green functioned as the center in Golden State’s lineup in such situations.
Golden State won 67 games last season, and one of the reasons was they had tremendous chemistry on the court, on both ends. Certainly the offense was like a machine at times, and this was a club that stressed ball movement and unselfishness. What was surprising to many NBA betting observers was the fact that they were also best in the league as far as the field goal percentage they allowed the opposition. Green was a very big part of that, so it would have been surprising if the Warriors, who will unquestionably be one of the favorites, if not THE favorite, to capture the NBA crown next year, according to BetAnySports, did not make an extra effort to keep him in the fold.
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