Draymond Green isn’t interested in letting anyone sleep on Damian Lillard.
The Warriors veteran used a recent episode of “The Draymond Green Show” to sound the alarm on the Portland Trail Blazers guard, who is coming off recovery from a torn Achilles and appears to be ramping up his shooting work ahead of the new season. Green reacted to a workout clip that showed Lillard going 1,100 of 1,168 on shots, a number that immediately caught his attention.
“Dame Lillard posted his shooting practice from over the weekend, and he made 1,100 out of 1,168 threes, which is 94% from three," Green said. "And playing with someone like Steph Curry and Klay Thompson for the bulk of my career, I can't say that I've never seen anyone hit 1,100 out of 1,168.
I'm also not about to sit there and watch Steph shoot 1,100 shots. So has he done something like that?
I don't know. Does it even matter?
No, it does not. You know why it doesn't matter?
Because this is about Damian Lillard."
Green followed that by pointing back to what Lillard already handled last season and why the league should expect plenty from him again if his body cooperates.
“Coming off an Achilles surgery, don't play any basketball, don't be in front of any crowds, and go win the three-point contest; that's no easy feat," Green continued. "For a period of time, all he can do is shoot.
Being a marksman that he already was, man, he's gonna have to get his legs under him for sure in coming back. But when he does, I don't think the league is ready to see the type of shooting display that Dame is about to put on when he gets back.
I'm not looking forward to it either, at least not when they play us.”
Golden State will get a close look at Lillard this season with the guard-heavy Trail Blazers on the schedule. Even in a league that keeps changing around its older stars, Lillard still carries the kind of scoring threat that forces attention. The Warriors may like their chances against Portland, whether it’s in the regular season or down the line in the playoffs, but a locked-in Lillard is still the kind of player who can tilt a game fast.
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For the Warriors, the intrigue had looked a bit different. Golden State had shown interest in Simmons and could have tried to use him as a backup point guard or a versatile forward, the kind of Swiss Army piece that sometimes finds a lane in their system. Even then, he would have had to win a preseason roster spot over Brandon Williams, so the path was never going to be automatic, and the latest Sacramento move suggests the Warriors may have sidestepped a role puzzle before it reached their own locker room. [Read more 🡒]