As 22 teams make a push to the NBA playoffs in the Orlando Bubble, Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors are in offseason mode. While he may not be on the court at Disney World, the former Defensive Player of the Year has some predictions for teams that could go for a run in the NBA’s restart.
Green joined his “The Arena” cohost, Charles Barkley, and Ernie Johnson on “The Steam Room” Podcast to discuss the NBA’s return to action. When asked about “sleeper teams” inside the bubble, Green landed on a familiar rival in the Western Conference. The Golden State forward thinks the high-powered Houston Rockets could “cause problems” at Disney World.
Let me make one of my ridiculous ‘Chuck’s bold predictions’ — Houston. They got Russ [Westbrook], they got James [Harden] — who obviously can both go for 40 or 50 on any given night. They got a bunch of shooters, and they’re going to create problems for people because their plan is switching defense. The first thing that people try to do — we saw the other day with the Bucks — you try to pound the ball inside. You’re not just going to run James Harden over in the post. You’re not just going to run PJ Tucker over. I think a lot of teams will make that mistake, and Houston can be really sneaky.
Since entering the NBA’s restart, the Rockets are 3-1 with wins over the Dallas Mavericks, the Milwaukee Bucks and the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers. In Houston’s four games, Harden has registered scoring totals of 49 and 39 points. Before missing the Rockets matchup with the Lakers on Thursday due to a quad injury, Westbrook opened up the bubble with back-to-back 31 point-scoring efforts.
For the Eastern Conference, Green named a South Beach squad that features his former Golden State teammate as another “sneaky” sleeper to watch.
Out of the East, I think Miami is a sneaky team out of the East. They play really hard. They got guys that’s tied in together. They got my guy Andre [Iguodala] over there who we know — during the finals and postseason — is great. The only thing with the Heat, I think they struggle at times to find consistent scoring, but I think they’re a sleeper team. They got a lot of talent, a lot of pieces.
Erik Spoelstra’s Miami Heat team has split the first four-game in the bubble. With a 2-2 record, the Heat will welcome a matchup with Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns. Since entering the bubble, former Warriors Andre Iguodala is averaging 5.8 points on 38.1% shooting with 4.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds per contest.
With Golden State’s extended offseason underway, Green will have plenty of room on the schedule to follow Iguodala and the rest of the NBA in the Orlando Bubble.
