Draymond Green is out vs. the Bulls and Pistons

Draymond Green will miss his third straight game to start the season. The three-time All-Star and former Defensive Player of the Year was hoping to return on Sunday for the Golden State Warriors game against the Chicago Bulls, but will instead stay sidelined with a sore foot.

Green received praise from coach Steve Kerr for his form in practice on Saturday, though he admitted that his conditioning was not where it needed to be. The forward missed the bulk of training camp after contracting the coronavirus, and then injured his foot a few days before the season, so he hasn’t had much of an opportunity to work on conditioning.

While it’s frustrating for fans and the team to have to keep waiting, it’s certainly a matter of better safe than sorry. The Warriors already suffered a potentially season-ending injury over the weekend when Marquese Chriss broke his leg during practice; the last thing they need is for their second-best player to get injured because he returned before his conditioning was ready.

It feels weird to say, but given how bad the Warriors have been through two games, they’ll likely have their hands full against a bad Bulls squad, since they won’t have Green or Chriss.

Smart money would have Green returning on Tuesday for the road trip finale against the Detroit Pistons.

Update: Steve Kerr has ruled Green out for Tuesday’s game as well.