Warriors have a Draymond Green problem

The Golden State Warriors have a problem with Draymond Green, and this time it has nothing to do with punching, kicking, choking or technical fouls.

Green committed five turnovers and shot 1-for-6 from three-point range in the Warriors' 99-98 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday. While Green still makes an impact on the defensive end, it's a smaller impact than he used to, while he's having his worst offensive season of his career.

Draymond Green's sloppiness is killing the offense

There have been few players like Green in NBA history. He's a 6-foot-6 forward with the strength and smarts to guard centers and the passing skills to serve as a secondary point guard for the Warriors and make a devastating pick-and-roll duo with Steph Curry. However, as Green has gotten older, his game is changing.

For one, Green has started taking over 60% of his shots behind the three-point line, even though he's only making 33% of them. When he's near the basket, he's making a career-low 54.5% of his attempts. Simply put, opposing teams do not have to respect him as a scorer on offense anymore.

That may be the reason Green is turning the ball over 5.5 times per 100 possessions, easily the worst rate of his career. It's much easier to steal the ball when defenses can safely play Green to pass. In the fourth quarter, the Suns' Ryan Dunn disrupted the Warriors offense by ignoring Green to essentially play free safety, roaming to block shots or deflect passes.

Thursday, the Warriors had 20 turnovers, which led to 30 Suns points. They've averaging 16.1 per game, with Green and Curry the worst culprits at 3.3 and three per game. Curry is averaging 28.8 points. Green is averaging 8.2.

Draymond Green's athleticism is in decline

Green's numbers have declined in offensive rebounds, blocked shots and dramatically in steals. All of those are bad signs for Green's athleticism, as is his impending 36th birthday in March.

When Green isn't shooting well from outside or inside, he has to be a truly special defender to be playable. It's not clear that he can defend centers as well or for as many minutes as he used to, leaving the Warriors with a power forward who shoots like a center — only the centers can score at the rim.

The limitations force the Warriors into weird lineups. Young forward Jonathan Kuminga is very athletic, but his shooting limitations make it hard for him to play with Green. Jimmy Butler is shooting well from distance, but taking less than two per game. The Warriors end up playing small lineups featuring old players, meaning they end up being short and slow at once.

It's not clear that the Warriors have many options. Kuminga is likely to be traded, but that doesn't solve the problem of constructing a quality offensive lineup around Green. They should be looking to trade Green, but Curry seems to still want him around, the last holdover from his first championship teams.

The logical choice is to ignore Green's extensive history with the team and trade him, then build his statue outside the Chase Center later. The emotional choice is to keep him and hope for the best, even though all the indicators are saying the worst is yet to come.