Is he wrong? Now if you've read my stuff before you know that I'm a big Warrior guy because I'm a huge Steph Curry guy. You're first reaction to what Jennings said was probably something along the lines of "No way, this guys nuts." But let's take a look at this exactly and we'll set team success aside for now (Warriors are 33-2 and slaughtering the Trail Blazers as I write this so probably going to be 34-2. The Clippers are 23-13.) A little backstory for you, Blake played 2 years at Oklahoma before being the number 1 overall pick in the 2009 draft and Draymond was the 5th pick, in the second round of the 2012 draft so 35th overall. Draymond has obviously taken the bigger jump of the two, Blake has obviously improved greatly from a dunker to a complete power forward, but still nobody expected this from Draymond. Stats wise? This year Draymonds numbers are 14.8ppg 9.5rpg 7.4apg 1.3spg and 1.4bpg. He's shooting 46.3% overall, 41.7% from 3, and 69.5% from the free throw line. Not to mention he had a stretch of 3 straight triple doubles last week or the week before and a league leading 7 so far this season*. Blake on the other hand is averaging 23.2ppg 8.7rpg 5apg 0.7spg and 0.6bpg. His shooting numbers are 50.8% overall 35.3% from 3 (which is pretty good but he's only taken 17 to Green's 132) and 72.5% from the free throw line. As for triple doubles? Blake has a big ol' goose egg in that department and only 4 in his career. So really Blake's beating Draymond in points, and field goal percentage, but he's also the number one option for his team, Draymond is behind Steph, Klay Thompson, and when healthy probably Harrison Barnes. He's a better defender than Blake, and is just tougher. Dude's probably the toughest guy in the league, and if he's not he does a damn good job acting like it. Now let's revisit the team success, the Warriors are not 33-2* without him, they're still good, but not dominant. Obviously the Clips aren't as good without Blake either, but obviously having him doesn't make LA the favorite to win the title, you take Draymond off the Warriors the Spurs are the easy favorite in the West and Golden State is probably around the Clippers level. Also these teams have played twice, Golden State is 2-0 featuring two comebacks and the patented small-ball lineup where Draymond plays center is behind both of those comebacks. Obviously other guys stepping up and Steph hitting big three's is a huge reason why, but without Draymond I don't think the Warriors win those games, or at least comeback in them. They're both two of the best power forwards in the game right now, but I'm taking Draymond as the better player right now, Blake has more natural God-given talent, but Draymond is playing better than Blake is.
NEVER FORGET
*Warriors just won so they're 34-2 now and Draymond just put up triple-double 8 on the year, doubling Blake's career total just in 36 games so far this season.
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