In this inaugural episode of the Draymond Green Show, Draymond Green breaks down the Dallas Mavericks‑OKC Thunder first‑round series and projects the Mavericks’ path to the Western Conference Finals. He argues that Dallas’ superior length and physicality, highlighted by players like PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford, and Luka Dončić, will outweigh OKC’s size advantage. Green recommends specific defensive assignments: putting Lu Dort on Kyrie Irving to make him uncomfortable, and using Jalen Williams (6‑8, athletic) to guard Irving if needed. He also outlines a strategy to contain Jalen Brunson by “riding his hip” rather than trying to recover, forcing Brunson into the big men. For OKC, Green suggests leveraging Chet Holmgren in guard‑guard screens to create confusion for Dallas’ bigs. Audience questions lead to a brief comparison of Steph Curry and Giannis Antetokounmpo (concluding they are different types of elite guards) and a discussion of the likely West Finals matchup, predicting a Dallas‑Minnesota series winner as the eventual NBA champion. The episode ends with Green’s typical sign‑off and a call to subscribe.
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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. Dallas and OKC is gonna be fun as hell. You got two MVP finalists. You got that man, Kyrie Irving. You got, by the way, I think Kyrie Irving is as good of a number 2 in the NBA as you can find. And then you have Jalen Williams. Who I think could be poised to be as good of a number 2 as you— is poised to be as good of a number 2 as you can find. Is he ready to take that step versus Kyrie right now? Kyrie animal. And I personally got Dallas winning this series. And I actually got Dallas winning this series in 5, 6 at best. And the reason I have Dallas winning that way is because I just don't think OKC's big enough for Dallas. Dallas has length. When you look at PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford and Luka, they also have girth. Like they're like, OKC has length, but they're mostly skinny guys. I think Dallas physicality in this series will actually make the difference. They're as good, if not better offensively. I don't think they're, Dallas is better defensively, But with their length and with their physicality, I think that will make them better defensively. And so I got Dallas taking this series and then eventually matching up with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals. But I think this will be a fun series to watch. I think it's gonna be very interesting to see how Dallas matches up And the reason I think it'll be— uh, excuse me, how OKC matches up. And the reason I think it'll be interesting, because OKC normally puts Lu Dort on the best player, and I think it'll actually be smarter for OKC to put Lu Dort on Kyrie. Luka gonna do what Luka does. If you could put Lu Dort on Kyrie to make it tough on Ky— by the way, making it tough on Ky, he can still give you 30, possibly 40. But my point is, that's who you need to stop. Luka gonna do what he do. You need to try to affect Kyrie. And the only person on their roster that I think is capable of doing that is Ludo. Now, Jalen Williams, if he's ready to take on that challenge, he has great length, has great agility, 6'8". You should be willing to take on that challenge of guarding Ky. And if I'm him, I'm begging for that because I wanna show you all that I'm ready to take that next step as far as that goes. And I'm ready to do whatever it takes to win. But I just think that's where the problem is gonna lie. I think Chet is capable of giving Dallas Biggs problems. I think if I'm Chet, I am, you know, if I'm OKC, I'm putting Chet in a lot of things to play off the dribble. I'm setting a bunch of inverted screens for Chet. On Daniel Gafford, on Derrick Lively. I'm really using Chet in that way. 'Cause that is how you can cause some confusion in Dallas's defense. You bring those bigs out and start setting guard, you know, ball screens on Chet. Let him make the reads, let him go score, letting those bigs try to navigate that. Almost like OKC runs a lot of guard, guard, screen, roll right at the top of the key and they let you make mistakes and then they attack 'em. Almost like that, but you're putting Daniel Gafford in it and seeing, and Derek Lively, and you're seeing how they can adjust to that. But needless to say, Mavs in 5. Jackson, before we get outta here, do we have any questions in chat, my friend?
We do. From @thraxn_jackson, Do you see any similarities between Ant and Steph? Obviously not in their actual games, but I'm curious your take there.
He actually only answered your question because of your name. Do I see, I don't, hell no. I don't see any similarities in Steph and Ant. Steph quiet, Ant loud. No, not at all. Other than they're both elite guards. Steph is a GOAT, so I'm not even gonna put Steph in the same category as Ant. Ant's trying to work to get to that, and I think he's capable of working, putting the work in and getting to that category that those guys are in. But no, I do not see any similarities. They both believe they're great. Steph is great. Ant believes he's great and has, is capable of, but no, hell no.
From @MarkyMark, Jalen Brunson's now scored 40+ in 4 straight playoff games. What's the best way that you think to slow him down?
You know what's crazy is I told myself I was gonna tell y'all this when I was watching the game and I actually forgot. So shout out to you for your question. I'm telling my guys, when Jalen Brunson drive, don't recover, ride his hip. And the reason I'm riding his hip is because you ain't affecting his shot being in front of him. He just raising up and shooting over guys. If I ride his hip, you can't shoot. Now you, I'm just forcing you to my big and then I'm making you finish over length. And so what I would tell guys is when Jalen Brunson gets a step, Because he's gonna get a step. He's clever. He's clever with the ball. Great footwork. When he get a step with a live dribble, do not try to recover and cut him off. Do not try to stay in front of him. Ride his hip, drive him straight down to the big, and let's see how he can finish over length at the rim. 'Cause he gonna kill you in the mid-range all night, all series long. If you keep letting him get to that mid-range and raise up, good night, go home, it's over. Good year, it's been real, it's a wrap. Ride the hip, get on his hip, and I ain't even trying to block his shot, I ain't trying to recover, so there's no need for me to get overzealous and he gonna sell the foul. Nope, I'm right there, I'm showing my hands, I'm riding the hip, no recovery. You gotta go to my big, and then let's see if you can finish. If you wanna drop the ball off to Hardenstein and Mitchell Robinson and see if they can beat us with your drop-offs, great, go for it. But what I'm not letting him do is get to where he want to get, stop on a dime, step backs, get you here, raise up over you. No, ride the hip, force him straight to the big. I'm not recovering on you at all. See if you can finish over that big. And you know, they got Miles Turner at the rim. Mm-hmm. It's a great shot blocker. So let me ride your hip right to him.
All right, last one from Jaden 2 Nice. Does the winner of Timberwolves Nuggets series make it to the finals?
Winner of the Timberwolves Nuggets series? No. The winner of the Dallas Timberwolves series is probably winning the finals. That's what I got. The West is tough. I think when you look at Boston, they're gonna come outta the East not really being threatened, haven't played against teams like the West. And also Boston struggled against all these Western Conference teams all year because they have the length, they have the speed, they have the defenders. And so I'm gonna take it a step further and say the winner of the next series, like Denver's done, so let's stop. The winner of Minnesota-Dallas, I think, is the NBA champion. That is a wrap from this episode of the Draymond Green Show. Shout out to all y'all who checked this out live and all of y'all that's gonna check this out later. I love y'all. Till next time, peace.
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