It's wild how things can change so quickly in such a short amount of time.
In late September -- just before the Warriors opened training camp -- Draymond Green had lofty expectations for the 2019-20 season.
"I'm going back to the way I was pre-KD (Kevin Durant), and that's exciting to me," he told Sam Alipour of ESPN. "I had to give up shots to make sure Kevin gets his touches, and I don't regret that. It got me a couple of championships.
"But as a competitor, as someone who's still in his prime, who's been in the gym all summer trying to improve my game, it's exciting to know that I can go back to playing the way that I was playing before.
"You haven't seen the best of me. I'm definitely not at my peak. I have so much room to grow, new heights that I can reach -- like becoming a 40 percent 3-point shooter. That'd be amazing, right?
"My shooting dropped off the last couple of seasons, but it's tough when you're taking only two or three 3s a game. My percentages were a lot higher when I took more."
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Well, fast forward six weeks later and Draymond finds himself in unchartered territory as the Warriors (2-10) have the worst record in the NBA.
Plain and simple, he doesn't look like himself so far. And not only is he playing without Klay Thompson, but Steph Curry won't be taking the floor for several more months, and Kevon Looney remains out indefinitely.
As a result, the Warriors predominantly have become a pick-and-roll team, as Draymond finds himself watching D'Angelo Russell run the show.
"I've always been a playmaker. I don't really have the ball much," the three-time All-Star told reporters Monday night after Golden State's loss to the Jazz.
"This is going to allow him to play off the ball and space out and work on his shot," coach Steve Kerr told the media Tuesday. "I'm going to encourage that. He can get that confidence back."
Let's take a look at Draymond's 3-point shooting over the years:
-2015-16 = 38.8 percent on 3.2 attempts
-2016-17 = 30.8 percent on 3.5 attempts
-2017-18 = 30.1 percent on 3.7 attempts
-2018-19 = 28.5 percent on 2.5 attempts
So Draymond's point about fewer attempts negatively impacting his percentage doesn't really hold up because he shot more triples in the first two seasons with KD than he did during his career-year in 2015-16.
But in his defense, Draymond making those shots didn't matter as much with KD onboard because the Warriors probably were going to win anyways.
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That no longer is the case. And even if Draymond were to go 8-for-10 from deep this season, the Dubs still could lose that game.
But big picture, the two-time All-NBA selection absolutely should use this season to regain his consistency from beyond the arc (he went 2-for-4 on Wednesday against the Lakers). As it pertains to that 40 percent goal, the mindset he had in late September should not change.
Given the circumstances, that won't be easy on a nightly basis.
