Steve Kerr has spent more than a decade figuring out how to get the best out of Draymond Green. Their relationship has had its tense moments, including a heated sideline altercation last season, but the two appear to have moved past it. Now, with the Golden State Warriors preparing for another season built around Stephen Curry, Kerr seems ready to make a few changes to Green’s role.

This comes months after Green suggested Kerr had hindered his offensive development. The veteran believed he could have offered more as a scorer at different points in his career, but his responsibilities changed as the Warriors’ roster and priorities evolved. Kerr now appears to have a clearer plan for what he wants from Green going forward.

“Yeah, he have to cut back on the turnovers,” Kerr said on The Tom Tolbert Show. “Yeah, I want him shooting the three, and when he’s open, when he shoots the three, he may not be a super high percentage shooter, but possessions are good for us when he shoots because number one, it’s worth three. Number two, we get offensive rebounds. Number three, there’s a flow to the game that has to happen: someone’s open, and they shoot it. The game keeps moving.”

Kerr also revealed that he had recently spoken to Green about the changes.

“I went to his house maybe a month ago in LA, and we sat and had lunch and had a great conversation and talked about these things,” Kerr added.

The coach knows that changing Green’s role will come with some risks. He also understands that Green is unlikely to stop playing with the same intensity and freedom that have defined his career.

“He knows there’s going to be some changes, and he’s always going to be himself. And there’s going to be good and bad that comes from that, and we’re okay with that,” Kerr said. “It doesn’t mean we’re thrilled with every single thing he says, but I think my job is to try to help him be the best version of himself as a player, and sometimes that might include, ‘Hey, maybe let’s pull back on this thing or that thing.’ Yeah, and that’s really hard. A hard thing to pull off with Dray because he is who he is.”

The numbers explain why Kerr wants Green to be more careful with the ball. He averaged 2.7 turnovers per game last season, slightly up from 2.6 the year before. Green also averaged 5.5 assists, showing why turnovers are part of the trade-off when he is given significant playmaking responsibility. Kerr’s challenge is to reduce the mistakes without taking away the passing instincts that make Green so important to the Warriors.

This is not a new concern for the head coach. Earlier in the 2025-26 season, Kerr had already asked Green to clean up that part of his game. Green responded by committing only 15 turnovers over a nine-game stretch, or 1.7 per game, compared with 3.3 per game during the first two months of the season.

The three-point issue is just as clear. Green shot 32.6% from deep last season while attempting 4.6 threes per game. That is not the profile of a knockdown shooter, but Steve Kerr does not need him to become one. 

This comes months after Green questioned whether Kerr had limited his offensive growth during their time together.

“As much as he’s done for me in basketball, a part of me thinks he’s hindered me in my career and what I could have become,” Green said on his podcast. “You know, when I think of who I was offensively as a player and who I became, I think a part of that is due to him. I don’t hold that against him.”

Kerr, however, has continued to emphasize how important Green has been to Golden State’s success. During the same conversation with Tom Tolbert, he credited the forward for his role in every championship the Warriors won during their current era.

“I mean, he’s a guy I will say forever. We don’t have a single championship without him. The guy’s that impactful on winning,” Kerr said. “This year I need the same patience from him. Because this is going to be an interesting year, a transition year of sorts. And we’re going to do some things differently, and he and Steph obviously have this great rapport.”

For now, Kerr’s message is fairly simple. He wants Green to keep doing the things that make him valuable while cutting down on the mistakes and taking the open threes. Getting that balance right could be one of the Warriors’ biggest challenges as they begin another season around Curry.