NBA Finals Player Preview: Draymond Green

Draymond Green pushed the Golden State Warriors to new heights, but his aggressiveness and physical plays means he’s always walking a fine line.

Draymond Green is always on the edge in some way. His personality and style of play means that he’s always up to something, battling for a rebound or jawing at an opponent, for better or worse.

More often than not, it’s for the better. His defensive versatility, his playmaking from the four and five spots, and his demeanor fuel the Warriors in a variety of ways. Without him, Golden State doesn’t win 73 games, doesn’t come back from a 3-1 deficit and isn’t in a position to win a second straight NBA title.

But that edge also has Green in a tough spot as the Finals begin. With five technical fouls racked up in the playoffs, two more will result in a two-game suspension. One more Flagrant-1 foul will result in a one-game suspension and a Flagrant-2 foul will result in an ejection and a two-game suspension. In short, Green is close to taking himself out of the Finals and that could open up a huge window for the Cavs.

Without Green, the vaunted ‘Death Lineup’ doesn’t exist, at least not in a meaningful way; it’s a lot less effective when Harrison Barnes or someone else is at at the five. And if Green isn’t there, it’s a lot harder for Golden State to hunt Kevin Love in the pick-and-roll. Green is so fluid and mobile as a roll man that he can make Love — one of Cleveland’s three best players — borderline unplayable. As a playmaker, he can attack Love on the wing as well. If Green isn’t there, Love suddenly becomes a lot more dangerous.

In the Finals, it’s not hard to see Green getting into a scuffle of some sort. He’ll surely collide with Love or Tristan Thompson inside. When that happens, it’ll get physical and Green will jaw and be aggressive. It’s who he is and it’s part of what makes him special.

But if it goes too far — even just one time — he could take himself out of the series. For Green, the Finals are all about living on the edge without falling.

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