In Golden State, it's clear: Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are the initiators for the Warriors' offensive attack. What happens when the offense is initiated, however, is a pretty process that needs the entire team.
Currently, there may not be anyone in the league better at working within an already initiated offense than Draymond Green. He certainly holds that title on the Warriors, where he's suddenly found himself creeping up on Chicago's Jimmy Butler in NBA Most Improved Player conversations. The way he does it isn't of the style consistent with most winners of the award, but that is mainly because of Curry and Thompson, and the way he uses them to make his job easier.
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Offensively, the progression from his rookie year has been impressive. He struggled to find any time in the rotation during his first season. But he's forced the Warriors to play him big minutes over the last year and a half, earning playing time over his already-established teammates. He's improved his shooting from over the past three seasons, and has become an above-average rebounder for somebody his size.
But that's far from the whole story. The overly used sports "Swiss army knife" metaphor has been thrown around when describing Green, but it's actually quite fitting in his case.
There aren't always a ton of shots for Green, so he can't put up as many shots as he might like to, but he still produces 11.3 points, 8.2 boards and 3.6 assists per game. Green has made life easier for the Warriors in about as many ways as you can ask for from a complementary wing player.
Not surprisingly, Green generates most of his offense off others. Despite his decent handle, it's rare to see Green take more than one or two dribbles in an offensive set. With the threat of the insanely quick, reliable shooting releases of Curry and Thompson, Green's ability to make a decision quickly makes the Warriors frontcourt deceptively fast.
But Green is still a threat off the dribble. In fact, he's displayed a decent enough handle on the fast break to bring the ball past half court if necessary. Past that, his vision is a rarely discussed plus to his game. The Warriors have five above-average passers in their "when healthy" starting lineup, making their half-court offense work like a machine.
Even so, their depth is ridiculous, to the extent that it's almost unfair. If Green were to go down, they'd have former All-Star David Lee right there to take the spot. Or, if they wanted to go small, they could use Andre Igoudala — another former All-Star — and kill the opposition on the fastbreak.
But the Warriors' halfcourt attack is just as dangerous. Aside from Curry, Green's drive-and-dish ability is the best on the team. When either the likes of Curry, Thompson or even Harrison Barnes, are all available to sit in the corner on a Green drive, the results usually end how you'd expect.
His ability to establish an offense makes him especially dangerous. Like most members of the Warriors, he never has the ball for more than a few seconds (assuming the Warriors are doing what coach Steve Kerr wants them to do).
Still, most everything Green does is off of other players. While most everything he does comes off Curry and Thompson, he still sits behind both of them in total points off catch-and-shoot situations. To be fair, all three of them are in the top 30 in total catch-and-shoot points, making the Warriors nearly impossible to guard when they're all on the floor together.
But Green wouldn't have garnered so much praise if everything ended on the offensive end. Green adds a lot that can't be accounted for in the stat column. Kerr saw it as early as November of this year.
"He's in a lot of ways our heart and soul and just plays with such passion at both ends," Kerr said early in the season. "I think it's contagious."
So far, it's hard to say it hasn't been contagious. The way Green plays can be viewed as a microcosm for the entire Warriors offense. He has the physical ability to play more isolation than he does, though he instead opts to play off the catch. The defender can't blink, either, because Green already knows where he's going with the ball before the pass reaches him.
That offensive mindset is what makes the Warriors. Once you look past their star-studded backcourt, the team's supply of converted role players know their positions, and Kerr has set up a system that brings out the niche in each player. Green's versatility makes Kerr's job that much easier.