In a season in which Murphy’s Law has reigned, yet another Warriors star is dealing with an injury that is worse than first appeared.
Draymond Green’s right heel is still not OK enough for him to play, and Golden State was set to suit up eight players again for Monday’s matchup with the Thunder.
“It’s lingering,” Steve Kerr said of Green’s un-healing heel at Chase Center. “It doesn’t seem like it’s going to be anything that goes on for too long. But it’s also not something we want to aggravate that would keep him out for a long period of time. We just felt more comfortable giving him another couple days.”
Monday would be the third straight game Green was set to miss, and it doesn’t sound as if he’s a definite to return Wednesday against Chicago. The Warriors (3-14) are 1-6 in games Green doesn’t play this season.
If good news could be strained from Kerr’s media session, it was that he expected D’Angelo Russell (right thumb sprain) to join the Warriors on their road trip that begins Friday in Miami. An announcement regarding the All-Star point guard is expected Saturday, while the Warriors said they would provide updates on Alen Smailagic (right ankle sprain) and Damion Lee (right hand non-displaced fracture) on Wednesday. The public won’t know more about Jacob Evans’ left adductor strain until Dec. 3.
Meanwhile, Klay Thompson (torn ACL) is expected to be out for the season and a Stephen Curry update on his left hand fracture won’t come until February.
The team is leveled, and the offense reflects that. A squad that made its living on the 3-ball has adjusted, which Kerr said can be helpful in the future.
“I think we’re learning a lot, not only about the players individually but about how we’re going to play in the future,” Kerr said. “And things that are going to work, things that aren’t going to work. So I think this will be a very productive year, and we have to look at it through the lens of, what will this look like when players are healthy.”
