In this inaugural episode of the Draymond Green Show, Draymond Green and guest Jackson break down the upcoming first‑round NBA playoff series between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Dallas Mavericks. They discuss the "matchup chess" of size, spacing, and defensive assignments, focusing on how Minnesota’s big men (Rudy Gobert, Karl‑Anthony Towns, PJ Washington) will contend with Dallas’s guards and forwards (Luka Dončić, Kyrie Irving, Anthony Edwards). The conversation highlights specific player battles—Luka vs. Edwards, Kyrie vs. Ant‑Man, and the potential guard‑switches involving Derrick Jones Jr., Josh Green, and the role of Maxi Kleber’s injury. They also examine the strategic flexibility of pulling Gobert, the mental state and possible impact of Kyle Anderson, and the broader implications of floor‑spacing changes now that Denver is out of the picture. After weighing the variables, Green tentatively predicts a Timberwolves win but notes he may revise his pick after further film study, promising to update fans via tweet or a follow‑up video.
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Welcome to the brand new Draymond Green Show YouTube channel. Hit subscribe so you don't miss out on any of our content. I tip my hat to them. It's gonna be interesting to see them versus Denver. I mean, excuse me, them versus Dallas next series. It's gonna be a hell of a matchup. You got a couple young stars in Ant-Man and Luka. You got Kyrie, tried, true, and tested. Or I messed that up, but you get the point. And you got Minnesota size. How does Gafford stack up to that? You got a young, lively, playing good basketball with Minnesota's bigs. How do they match up? You got PJ Washington at the 4 shooting the lights out the ball in the playoffs. If Luka's putting Rudy in the pick and roll every time, how does Rudy handle that? Kyrie in the pick and roll, that's a different look for Rudy. It's a different look. How do you handle that? Floor spacing. It's gonna space you out differently than it was spaced out in Denver. 'Cause you got Aaron Gordon always in the dunker. If he at the 3, you helping off, you not worried about it. They got guys shooting that thing. So that stretches, that stretches the defense differently. That's what we up against, right? You got Ant-Man downhill. Derrick Jones Jr. will probably be the guy that you think guard Ant-Man because you kind of need PJ for size this round against KAT. But I think Ant-Man could possibly be a little too big for Derrick Jones Jr. So if he is and you need PJ for his size, then who's guarding KAT? Do you then send Derrick Jones Jr. to KAT? This is where the chess pieces sometimes happen, the chess playing, the chess moves happen. Is it more of a Josh Green series? How can Josh Green play this series? Do he come play big? So if he play big, can he guard Anson to allow PJ to guard the Cat more, right? Like this is where you start plugging and playing. This is where it gets good. But the matchup's gonna be interesting. You got Luka and Jaden McDaniels. You go Ant-Man on Kyrie. Kyrie and Ant-Man, that's one for the ages right there. Yeah. Young fella versus Kyrie season, but Ky do it. Ky a trickster. Bag full of tricks. It's interesting. You go Mike Conley, Derrick Jones Jr. But yeah, so these match, like this series, it's the tale of two tapes, I think. And, um. Yeah. Man, which one ultimately wins? I wanna say Dallas. I wanna say Dallas, but Minnesota showed me something when they were willing to pull Rudy Gobert. Sometimes Utah couldn't get over the hump because they wouldn't be willing to pull him. You never know, could they got over the hump sometime if he was willing to pull him at times? They weren't. Minnesota pulled him at the right time. He got back in though. You gotta give him credit. Got back in and played. Gotta give him credit. Didn't bow out. But what I was showing tonight was that cat can hold the fort down. Cat's willing to hold the fort down. And if you need to play that card, they showed that they will. They showed that they're capable. So with that, man, I like Dallas. I like Dallas. I think Dallas is tough, man. I think Dallas is tough. Maxi Kleber being out this round gonna be big. Do they get Kleber back? I think that changes the series, but I think he's out indefinitely. Isn't he out for quite a while, Jackson?
Yeah, I think he's out for quite a bit. I will try to check, but I think he's out. I think he's out for quite a while.
Yes.
Like maybe for the finals if they get there, but I don't think this round.
Yeah, see, that's the tough, that's where that loss come into play, right? And you start talking about health and like where it comes important, becomes important. 'Cause Maxie Claver would be big 'cause he can guard KAT some, he can stretch the floor still. If you remember, Maxie Claver was shooting the lights out versus the Clippers. So I wanna say Dallas. I feel like Dallas is more than capable of winning this series, but it's hard to bet against Minnesota right now. Yeah. And man, doing what he doing. Cat stepping up like that. And I think this is gonna be a big, big, big Kyle Anderson series. Like when you start talking the floor space and if they gotta pull that plug on Rudy, Kyle Anderson, Kyle Anderson hasn't been real big in these playoffs. So I wonder, is he still in it mentally? Always been a true professional. Is he still there mentally though? 'Cause this could be a big Kyle Anderson series. That's where the series can change. Can you get a guy like Kyle Anderson to come up big? He's more than capable. I've seen him do it. So it's interesting.
And then Carlos Hernandez asked, do you think the Mavericks have a chance? Which obviously you do, but I'm gonna use this as a jumping off point to ask you to give a firmer prediction on Dallas, Minnesota.
A firmer prediction on Dallas also.
Dallas, who you got? How many games? Let's see, let's hear it. We're not gonna hold you to it. It's only been 5 minutes since the series ended, but like—
I got Minnesota. I haven't had a chance to really analyze this how I want to analyze it yet, but I think, so I need to look at like some different matchup stuff. Like what did they, what was their, I need to watch their games from the season and like see different things. So, I may tweet to y'all and change my prediction before game 1. Just so you know, I'm gonna go, just to give you guys a firm prediction, I haven't studied like I wanna study yet. I'll go Minnesota for now, but I may change that before game 1. So be on the lookout. I mean, if I'll even post something, like I'll post a video if I change it or something. But as of right now, I think I got Minnesota.
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