Couch: NBA finally realizing Draymond Green's worth

The entire NBA passed on Draymond Green three years ago. Several teams passed on him twice. The Cleveland Cavaliers drafted four other players before Green went off the board to the Golden State Warriors with the 35th pick. None of them are still on the Cavs' roster.

Every NBA franchise — sans the Warriors — is losing more than necessary because of their inability to properly evaluate Green at Michigan State. If the Warriors beat Cleveland in the NBA Finals next month, it's because the Cavs thought more of Bernard James and Jae Crowder in 2012 with picks No. 33 and 34.

The more the Warriors win in these NBA playoffs, the more I watch, the more I'm convinced Draymond Green cannot be overpaid this summer.

Not under the league's maximum contract rules. Not by those teams who value winning above all else. And especially not by the Warriors, who by now understand what they have better than anyone.

Green's statistics are catching up with his worth as he heads into restricted free agency. He's expected to sign a contract worth between $10 million annually and the expected maximum of $15.8 million. But his numbers this postseason still don't properly convey his impact.

Golden State, which is five wins from its first NBA title in 40 years, is benefiting from Green's voice, his intelligence, his versatility, his development, his priorities and, perhaps above all, his infectiousness.

This is not new. The same could be said about his high school days at Saginaw, his career at MSU — his senior year particularly — and every pick-up and summer league game on his record.

NBA executives either didn't ask the right people or don't know what truly decides winning and losing in this team sport. Or didn't think Green's physical skills would translate. MSU coach Tom Izzo once nearly made the same error.

"The thing about Day-Day (Green) is, when you're playing with him, he just makes you feel so comfortable. He gives you confidence," said MSU senior guard Denzel Valentine, who's been playing with and against Green during the summer since before Valentine began at MSU. "He always holds you accountable. But he cheers you on and wants you to do well. If you just miss a shot, some people will say, 'Dang, man, you need to make that.' He'll just keep encouraging you to keep shooting those shots."

And if you're not on his team …

"You hate playing against him," Valentine said.

Because Green talks. Not for nothing. He wants to be inside your head one way or another — leading you, reassuring you, sticking up for you or …

Tearing you apart.

"If I say (he's gotten in my head), he'll probably try to go at me this summer," Valentine said. "He's made me mad a couple times. That's something that's different with him than everybody else."

Basketball is a sport of confidence and rhythm. Anyone who's ever played regularly at any level — from a driveway on up — has experienced both sides of this. When you can't shoot or aren't comfortable, it's often because of a teammate or opponent. Same goes for when it's all working. The most athletic player, if they crush the confidence and rhythm of their teammates, is the worst player on the court. Again, we've all played with this person. And vice versa.

"Even now that he's a pro, he'll go back (to MSU) and take some of the walk-ons and some of the guys who don't play as much as starters and still win," said Everett High School coach and former pro Desmond Ferguson, who runs Lansing's Moneyball summer league, for which Green is still a loyal regular. "He's got that impact, it's sort of like Magic, where they're just winners. He brings a winning mentality to his teammates."

The NBA undervalued this the first time around.

Through 13 games, Green is averaging 13.9 points, 10.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists this postseason. Good numbers. The rest of the Warriors, though, are scoring more because of him; his opponents, less.

In Game 2 of the Western Conference finals against Houston, two moments epitomized Green's beyond-the-stats value:

•With seconds to go in the first half, Green prevented a Houston fast break by fouling — understanding the Warriors had a foul to give before the Rockets would be shooting free throws. Houston didn't score. Golden State won, 99-98.

•Late in the game, Green's wall-like screen freed NBA MVP Steph Curry for an open and in-rhythm 3-pointer. It didn't count because Houston's Trevor Ariza fouled Green trying to get through him. But the moment highlighted a play Green makes for his teammates a dozen times a game.

"I started realizing even though Curry was the MVP of the league, Draymond might be the MVP of the team," Izzo said recently. "Because I'd never seen a guy free more guys (to shoot)."

It goes beyond Green's screens. It's also his rebounding and subsequent ability to push the ball up the floor, barreling toward a backpedaling defense, with most likely the sport's best-shooting backcourt ever — Curry and Klay Thompson — set up on the wings ready to let it fly. It makes Green a perfect fit for Golden State. But his game would play elsewhere, too.

Green's greatest NBA skill is conforming to whatever winning looks like on a given night or play.

That comes from a desire to win above all else that cannot be taught. He had it at MSU. But that alone doesn't always translate to a stellar NBA career. Former Spartan Mateen Cleaves had this trait. He didn't quite have a lasting NBA game.

Green does. Rebounding is the elite NBA skill that first separated him, allowed him to be on the floor to further develop his outside shot, his ball-handling and defense — and, importantly, to become the voice of the team.

Whichever NBA team signs Green — and the Warriors would be fools not to match any offer — gets a tone-setting leader on the floor and in the locker room for the length of the contract. In a league full of franchises that struggle with dysfunctional personalities, defense and ball movement, Green seems like a heck of an answer.

He may never be a No. 1 or 2 offensive option, but he'll be the reason some team wins with whatever No. 1 or 2 options it has.

"He just doesn't back down from anybody," Valentine said. "He's smarter (than other players), the intensity he plays with, the fact that he's so competitive. He just refuses to lose.

"And he's a matchup problem. He's a 6-foot-7 4-man. He's a better athlete than people give him credit for. He can stay in front of a point guard like Chris Paul or he can bang down in the post with Dwight Howard. He's a great defensive player. That's why he made All-Defensive first team. He knows where the ball needs to go. He knows the right pass to make. His shot has improved a lot. He's a pick-and-pop threat, so you can't just leave him open. What he doesn't get credit for, is I think he finishes really well."

"People said he wasn't fast enough, wasn't quick enough, wasn't tall enough, this or that," Ferguson said. "It just kind of played to his favor, because he can do a little bit of everything."

Everything at the NBA level. The NBA somehow missed that.