NBA Pokemon: Draymond Green is Eevee
One of the toughest things about both Pokemon and the NBA is finding that incredibly versatile final member to fill out a championship team. In Pokemon the problem comes from the fact that Pokemon don’t often change types when they evolve, meaning if you already have a Wartortle in your team, it is hard to justify adding that really high level Goldeen to it because it would mean you had too many water Pokemon. In the NBA things are similar as it is hard to justify adding a non-shooting elite defender like Tony Allen to another lineup featuring a non-shooting elite defender like Omer Asik. There is a solution to both of those problems though, and that is what makes Draymond Green the NBA’s version of Eevee.
Eevee on its own isn’t a great Pokemon just like Draymond Green on his own probably isn’t a max contract player. Add other variables to the mix though, and suddenly everything changes. For Eevee it is elemental stones, or rocks, or friendship, or whatever way Eevee evolves now. Need a fast electric Pokemon to round out your lineup? Boom, just add a Thunderstone to your Eevee and you have a Jolteon. Need a tank and a water type Pokemon? A Water Stone and an Eevee get you just that.
Draymond Green is the same way. If the Warriors need someone to set screens and free up Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Draymond can do that. If they need someone in the next game to defend Zach Randolph in the post, well, Draymond just shifts his mindset and does that to help the Warriors win.
The versatility also tends to leave both forgotten at times by inexperienced observers.
New to Pokemon games? Eevee typically comes so late that people don’t realize just how good he can become with patience and a plan, meaning he gets stuck in a PC box and forgotten about. Draymond meanwhile, came to the NBA late as a four-year college player and was forgotten about through the entire first round of the NBA Draft. But the Warriors had a plan and were patient with Draymond, and he became the final piece to an NBA champion in the same manner that Eevee has turned into the final piece of many a smart Pokemon trainer’s Pokemon League championship team.
And along they way they both taught us that judging things based just on appearances is a bad idea. So in one of the easier comparisons out there, Draymond Green is clearly Eevee.