For more than a decade, Draymond Green has been one of the Warriors’ most important connectors in transition. That role is changing. Steve Kerr wants Green sprinting down the floor instead of trailing the play. Meanwhile, the Dubs are building a more structured five-out offense around spacing, interchangeable positions, and guards arriving behind the initial action.
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During a press interaction at the Hawaii training camp, Kerr explained the adjustment.
“The whole point for him early, just get down the floor. We don’t want him trailing,” said Kerr in a clip shared by Luca Evans on X. “It’s the biggest adjustment for him. He’s trailed the all fours for years. We’re telling him, get down the floor.”
Draymond Green can still end up in the corner or on the wing and remain involved. But the first responsibility is different.
“When he’s down the floor, that could mean he’s in the corner, could mean he’s on the wing. But he’s still going to be involved in the action. And when we say five out, it doesn’t necessarily mean five three-point shooters, but it means five guys around the three-point line,” Kerr added.
Kerr wants five players positioned around the perimeter so the Warriors can create high ball screens, dives, and cuts without relying on the same transition patterns they have used for years.
“We want all five positions to be interchangeable,” added Kerr. “These guys down the floor, we want them to get on the floor, point guard, guard screens.”
Kerr tied the change directly to the personnel that Dubs have assembled. Stephen Curry and Brandin Podziemski give Kerr two guards in the projected starting lineup who can handle and initiate. Meanwhile, Al Horford provides shooting from the center spot. Rookie Yaxel Lendebord adds another versatile piece who can cut, space the floor, and move the ball.
That combination makes it easier to move Draymond Green away from the top of the offense without leaving the floor cramped.
Who will run the play then?
“Guards and wings. Guards and wings are trailing the play,” said Kerr. “Really allows to set up. And then, you know, we’re stumbling on play calls, dead balls, free throws.”
The Warriors are also trying to address a structural problem.
Kerr said the team wants to be “more organized, especially in flow and transition,” while still keeping some of its familiar split action. Last season, the Warriors averaged 15.7 turnovers per game, so adding more defined spacing and clearer responsibilities is not simply a stylistic experiment.
It’s an attempt to make possessions cleaner. Draymond Green has noticed the difference himself.
“These first three days of practice, s***’s been different. It’s been a lot different, and I respect it,” Green said on his YouTube show on Friday.
He called Day 1 the hardest and probably longest practice of his career before adding, “You can’t have the season we had last year and just come back the next year like ‘Alright, we pick up here and do the same thing over again.’ That’s delusion. No one around here is delusional.”
That comment puts Kerr’s Green adjustment into a much larger context.
For Draymond Green, the biggest challenge will be breaking a habit he has built into his game. Trailing the play let him survey the floor, find Curry, and organize the offense before defenses locked into position. Now he has to trust the guards behind him and get into position earlier.
The benefit could be greater spacing for Steph and more room for the Warriors’ secondary creators. If Green reaches the wing or corner quickly, defenders have to decide whether to stay with him, protect the paint, or chase the ball.
That creates the gap the Warriors want their cuts and screens to exploit.
Moreover, things could drastically change once Kristaps Porzingis, Moses Moody, and Jimmy Butler find their way back into the lineup.