Top 100 NBA Players: # 95 - Draymond Green

Draymond Green

Green is the youngest player currently in the top 100, although only by just over 3 weeks. He was a 2nd round draft pick of the Golden State Warriors in 2012, and has shown consistent improvement throughout his 4 seasons.

After coming off the bench during his first two seasons, he became a starter in 2014 when David Lee went down with an injury in the preseason, and his play kept him in the starting lineup even after Lee returned. He averaged 11.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per game that season, finishing 2nd in the Defensive Player of the Year voting as well as the Most Improved Player voting.

He raised his level of play even more in the playoffs, putting up 13.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game as Golden State won its first championship in 40 years. Although Klay Thompson was a little more recognizable, it was Green who was the #2 player on the Warriors through the playoffs, behind only regular season MVP Stephen Curry. Green cemented his status as a star by putting up a triple double in the championship-clinching game, becoming only the sixth player in history to achieve that feat, joining only Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, James Worthy, Tim Duncan, and LeBron James.

His upward trajectory continued last season, when he averaged 14.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, and led the team with 7.4 assists per game, twice his previous high. His performance earned him a well-deserved spot on the All-NBA Second Team, and his team set a new record for wins in the regular season.

He raised his performance again in the playoffs, helping the Warriors to their second straight NBA Finals, and took over as the team's best player while Steph Curry missed multiple games to injury and struggled to regain his form after returning. Klay Thompson took over more of the scoring load for Golden State, but Green filled the gaps everywhere else. Here are their averages for this season's playoffs:

Green - 15.4 pts, 9.9 reb, 6.0 ast, 1.6 stl, 1.8 blk
Thompson - 24.3 pts, 3.7 reb, 2.3 ast, 1.1 stl, 0.4 blk

With the consistent improvement Green has shown throughout his career, there is no telling how far he could rise up these rankings in the future. It's hard to know when he will reach his peak and how high that will be, or whether he has already reached it, but another 5 years at his current level could be enough to make him top 30 material. We'll just have to wait and see.