Warriors: 3 dream Draymond Green replacements and 1 to avoid at all cost

Draymond Green replacement Warriors need to avoid: Dillon Brooks

The unfortunate reality for the Warriors is that though they may prefer to add a player more in the tier of the three mentioned previously, their current salary cap situation largely prohibits them from doing so.

Dillon Brooks will likely come in at a much more affordable rate in free agency. He was a starter with the Memphis Grizzlies but is viewed league-wide as more of a role-playing defender. Unfortunately for him, he staged one of the worst contract seasons of all-time by talking a big game in a series against the Lakers and LeBron James. That backfired, after his comments poked the “old” James out of hibernation and back into playoff beast mode.

Players on the team have more or less admitted that Brooks’s mouth was the nail in the coffin for the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies have already come out and leaked that they have zero interest in bringing Brooks back. When the incumbent team doesn’t have interest in re-signing a player, it’s tough to justify spending big on them.

Beyond those off-court considerations, Brooks is relatively mediocre offensively and took a significant step back in accuracy from the field this year, from 43.2 percent last season to 39.6 percent this season. His scoring dropped from 17.0 points to 13.6 per 36 minutes in the postseason.

With Golden State, a lack of offense could be masked by the elite weapons Golden State already has on the roster if he can bring his defensive intensity to the table. But he took a step back there as well this season, dropping from a 3.1 defensive RAPTOR rating in 2022 to a 1.7 this season. He dropped to a -1.5 in that metric in this year’s postseason.

The Warriors need to avoid Brooks because he’s on the decline and he’s proven to enjoy trash talk more than the play that should back his bold comments up. Unfortunately, they might be priced into a replacement like Brooks instead of their ideal options.