Warriors Draymond Green and Eric Paschall upgraded to “available” for tonight’s game against Jazz

I’m not sure I completely understand it, but the Golden State Warriors made it official this afternoon: Draymond Green is back.

The 8-year veteran is returning to a squad in desperate need of assistance, especially on the defensive end of the court - which just so happens to be Green’s specialty. In the five games he’s appeared in this season, Green is averaging 9 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1.4 blocks per game in just shy of 30 minutes per game.

The three-time all star and ex Defensive Player of the Year is going to have his hands full trying to correct the course of a Warriors team that has wobbled out to a 2-8 start. Hampered by long-term injuries to their best players, the team has managed to stay average offensively, but has plummeted to the worst defense in the league - and it’s not close.

I found this on Twitter earlier today. At first glance, the Warriors aren’t even in this picture... but if you click to expand the image, you can find them - way down there at the bottom of the defensive axis.

Along with Green, the team will see the return of Rookie Eric Paschall, who had a couple of standout performances prior to missing the previous contest with a minor hip injury. He’s the team’s second-leading scorer among active, available players, but had a bit of a rough go in his last action. He struggled against the physical defense of the Minnesota Timberwolves, getting just 12 points, and one rebound and one assist - all of which were below his season averages (16 points, 4 rebounds, 1.6 assists).

Omari Spellman is still listed as out with an ankle injury.

Author’s note

In the preview, I included some erroneous information from Basketball Reference showing the Warriors leading the league in a bunch of rebounding categories.

Unfortunately, it seems to have been a data problem. The Warriors are not a great rebounding team. According to NBA.com, the Warriors rank 20th in overall rebounds per game. They rank 25th in defensive rebounds, and 11th in offensive boards (that one’s actually not bad at all).

Still, the Jazz are pretty darn good. Draymond or no, this is going to be a difficult game to win, and there is no mercy in the NBA.