Every offseason, Seth Partnow of The Athletic and the former director of basketball research for the Milwaukee Bucks puts together his ranking of the best players in the NBA. Given the Golden State Warriors’ dominance over the past decade, multiple members of their rotation usually feature prominently within the tiered system.
In 2023’s iteration of Partnow’s rankings, Draymond Green has been placed in the 3B tier. Numbers-wise, this would mean the versatile Warriors forward is somewhere in the top 40 players in the NBA. Green recently signed a four-year $100 million deal to remain with Golden State for what could be the final stretch of his career.
Having a top-40 player who is in the same tier as other NBA champions, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, tied down to a multi-year deal is a great piece of business for Golden State.
“The upcoming season might represent a last hurrah of sorts for Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday and Draymond Green as Top 40 players,” Partnow wrote. “Between injuries (Middleton and Green), loss of shooting confidence (Green) and signs of athletic decline (Holiday took fewer than 20 percent of his shot attempts inside of 3 feet for the first time in his career, with his rim-attempt rate dropping by a third over the last two seasons), last year was a bit worrying. With all three getting a full summer to recover, they could certainly maintain their status, but it’s something to keep an eye on.”
Of course, Green’s impact isn’t confined to the box score, which makes ranking his contributions to Golden State’s success a little more difficult. Nevertheless, the Warriors have multiple players in the top 50, and that bodes well for their championship hopes in the coming season.
