Injury Update on Draymond Green

Draymond Green has missed 25 straight games but there has been some new light shed on his potential return.

Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, there is now a window for the return of Draymond Green.

After working out after Golden State’s practice Sunday afternoon, the starting forward is reported to potentially return in 7-10 days after missing over two months with a back injury.

“It won’t be a moment too soon,”Wojnarowski said on ESPN’s NBA Countdown. “This is a team that for the first time in four months has dropped to second in the league in defensive efficiency… And now they’ve dropped to third place in the Western Conference.”

Green’s last “start” for the Warriors came on Jan 9 when made a brief appearance for just seven seconds in Klay Thompson’s return. Since then, he’s missed 25 consecutive games in which the Warriors have gone just 12-13.

Currently, the Warriors are in the midst of their worst stretch of the season, losing eight of their last 10 games, including four straight dating back to a 107-101 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

With Green on the floor, the Warriors earned the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference as well as the No. 1 defensive ranking in the NBA. During his absence, Golden State has fallen mightily, giving up an average of 110.2 points per game.

But Green’s impact was felt beyond being a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Before suffering a disk injury in his back, Green led the Warriors with 7.6 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game.

It’s no coincidence that the Warriors have been regularly out-rebounded since Green was sidelined with his back injury and their patented ball movement offensively has been seen much less frequently.

The good news for Golden State, however, is that Green could return within a week-and-a-half, giving them hope and potentially much-needed traction heading into the playoffs.

Golden State will take on the Denver Nuggets Monday night.