Draymond hopes to return for Warriors by end of road trip
The Golden State Warriors ultimately have the final say on when Draymond Green will return to their lineup from his sprained right toe, but if the three-time All-Star gets his way, he'll be back sooner rather than later.
"He feels like he'll be able to play by the end of this road trip," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said Thursday, according to the Mercury News' Mark Medina. "Meaning one of the last couple of games. But again it's day to day. We'll see."
Green has missed nine of Golden State's last 11 outings, with the defending two-time champions going 5-4 during those games.
The injury occurred Nov. 5 against the Memphis Grizzlies, forcing him from the Warriors' following two games against the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets. Green aggravated the injury on Nov. 12 against the Los Angeles Clippers, received a one-game suspension for an incident involving teammate Kevin Durant, and then played limited minutes against the Houston Rockets on Nov. 15 before being shut down for good.
"He's been very patient this time," Kerr added. "I think he understands where we are. It's still November. There's a long haul ahead. He tried to play through the toe injury a couple of weeks back in LA and it made it worse. He recognizes we have to get this better before he gets back on the floor."
The Warriors opened their road trip Thursday in Toronto against the Raptors. They'll battle the Detroit Pistons on Saturday, the Atlanta Hawks on Dec. 3, face the Cleveland Cavaliers two nights later, and finish their trip in Milwaukee on Dec. 7 versus the Bucks.
Green had previously missed six or more games in a season on just one occasion (2017-18) and was absent for a grand total of seven games his first four seasons combined.
He's averaging 6.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.2 assists on 44.4 percent shooting through 13 appearances for the 15-7 Warriors.