Warriors looking to do 'right things' to help Green

LOS ANGELES — The Golden State Warriors are committed to forward Draymond Green despite his indefinite suspension for striking Phoenix’s Jusuf Nurkic in the face.

For Warriors coach Steve Kerr, the commitment to Green goes far beyond the basketball court and is about investing in him as a person.

“It’s about helping Draymond. It’s an opportunity for Draymond to step away and make a change,” Kerr said ahead of the Warriors’ game against the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday. “And that’s not an easy thing to do. That’s not something where you say, OK, five games and then he’s going to be fine. The league did that … The answer is not to pick a number [of games]. The answer is to help Draymond.”

Thursday morning, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said part of the decision to not put a hard number on Green’s suspension was to ensure there would be time for Green to get himself in a place where he can be around the team long term.

The Warriors are truly approaching the indefinite timeline as such, and have no idea in mind as to when Green could possibly return.

“This is not just about an outburst on the court. It’s about his life. It’s about someone who I believe in, someone I have known for decades, who I love for his loyalty,” Kerr said. “The one who choked Rudy [Gobert], the one who took a wild flail at Jusuf, the one who punched Jordan [Poole] last year, that’s the guy who needs to change.”

Kerr said everything prior to the three incidents he listed which all occurred in the past year — the ejections for arguing with referees or throwing a ball — do not carry nearly the same weight. In this case, they don’t even matter.

Following Green’s assault of Poole, the Warriors and Green agreed that he should spend time away from the team, and he did for less than one week. But that didn’t change his behavior.

With the league now stepping in to repeatedly discipline Green, Kerr recognizes the organization doesn’t have the tools needed to help Green.

“There is a lot of this that has to happen with people who are experts in this field,” Kerr said. “My role in this is to support Draymond as best I can … we want to give him the space, time and assistance he needs to make a significant change … we’re not qualified to offer some of the things he needs.”

That being said, Dunleavy couldn’t ensure there would ever be a change in Green’s behavior.

“I can’t guarantee you that,” Dunleavy said. “I can just say we will continue to do the right things to help him. I think we’ve done a decent job at that in the past, and we’ll continue to work through it all. There are a lot of parties involved. The biggest thing here to me is not the punishment, it’s helping and giving assistance.”

On Wednesday night, the league announced Green’s suspension timeline will be tied to him meeting “certain league and team conditions before he returns to play.”

“We want to see you at your best, and the best way for you to do that is to get yourself mentally and emotionally back to where you need to be,” NBA executive vice president Joe Dumars said on ESPN’s “First Take.” “That’s how we got to indefinite.”

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Green; Dunleavy; and Rich Paul, Green’s agent, are expected to meet Thursday to start discussing a path of counseling and help for Green to move forward.

Green will remain with the team throughout his suspension, though he’s not expected to be there every day. Dunleavy said it would be more beneficial for Green to stay connected to the group than “jettisoning the guy off somewhere.” Green was not with the team in Los Angeles on Thursday and will be away for a least a few days.

“We’ve got to give it a few days,” Kerr said. “I think the team needs a little space. I think Draymond needs a little space. Draymond will do what he feels right and then move forward.”

The main message the Warriors have been pushing during Green’s absences — this one and his five-game suspension after putting Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert in a chokehold — is how much they will miss him in games, focusing on that more than on his behavior.

That’s also the bottom line they have been trying to stress to Green, telling him he has to do whatever it takes to stay on the floor.

“His ability this year has been great; his availability has not,” Dunleavy said. Green has missed a total of eight games to suspension, injuries or personal reasons this season, and he has been ejected from three more.

Dunleavy said the next 15 to 20 games will be critical in determining what roster adjustments the team has to make. Seeing how the team plays without Green will be more important in assessing what Golden State has to do, Dunleavy said, than Green himself.

The frustration over Green’s lack of availability becomes bigger as the Warriors, who are 10-13 entering Thursday, try to navigate out of their early struggles.

And there is some concern as to whether Green will be able to stay on the floor once he returns, as the league has repeatedly said Green’s prior acts will lead to harsher punishment.

“That’s part of the dance we got to walk and part of things we need to address,” Dunleavy said. “He’s got to be aware of it. Hopefully, we can get him to a point where he’s still the same high-energy, competitive guy. And if situations arise, he’s got to find a way to regulate that.”

But there’s an overall sense of disappointment within the Warriors at Green’s repeated behavior, and the fact that he hasn’t yet found a way to manage his reactions on the court.

A source told ESPN last month that the Warriors lost leverage in punishing or holding Green accountable when they failed to do so when he punched former teammate Poole. Another source said when Green’s behavior that keeps him from the court outweighs the good he does on it, that’s when there could be a shift in the organization’s handling of Green.

Dunleavy hopes this saga and suspension will end differently than the others

“I think this is something a lot of people see as a problem, but we’re looking to turn it into a positive,” Dunleavy said. “He’s at a point in his career and his life where you want to get some things straightened out. Maybe you need a jolt like that. I think it’s been very positive, very open, and I’m extremely optimistic we can get where we need to go.”