Debunking Myths in Draymond Green-Charles Barkley Feud

On Wednesday's edition of Inside the NBA, Draymond Green replaced Shaquille O'Neal as one of the four panelists.

What ensued wasn't shocking.

Green and Charles Barkley got into a feud that has since been opined about by just about every major sports outlet.

There were a few myths that were revealed due to this feud.

Let's debunk them here.

Myth 1: Barkley Had an Embarrassing Career with the Rockets

Many people have already debunked this myth, and I'll be piling on here.

Over four seasons with the Rockets, Barkley averaged 16.5 points, 12.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists. The Rockets were substantially better with him on the court for the first three seasons.

When Green said to Barkley "I think the goal is just to not look like you in a Houston Rockets uniform," he implied that Barkley was awful in Houston, when in fact he was still a very good player.

As Jimmy Traina of Sports Illustrated wrote, it was clear that Green's line did not go over well with Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith. It was disrespectful in a way that couldn't be laughed off.

Myth 2: Houston Barkley Was Better Than Peak Draymond

Many people expressed this opinion (here is one and here is another). They are underrating how good Draymond Green was during the 2015-16 season.

	PPG	EFG%	RPG	APG	Stocks	DBPM
2015-16 Dray	14.0	.551	9.5	7.4	2.9	2.9
Houston Barkley	16.5	.502	12.2	3.9	1.5	0.5

I included defensive box plus/minus to try to illustrate how much better Green was on defense. Basically, Barkley was an average defender and Green was one of the best defensive players in basketball.

Offensively, Green was less productive but more efficient. Of course, Green had the luxury of playing with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, which opened up scoring opportunities aplenty. But don't forget that Barkley played with Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.

I'm willing to concede that Houston Barkley was a better offensively player than Prime Draymond, but it's a lot closer than people think. And Prime Draymond's defense was so much better that it's pretty obvious that Prime Draymond was a better player than Houston Barkley.

Lastly, I'll add that 2015-16 Green finished seventh in MVP voting (Barkley finished 16th in his first year in Houston) and that he set the single-season record for best plus-minus at plus-1,070.

Myth 3: The Warriors Have No Path to Contention Next Season

Before Green responded with his disrespecful comment, Barkley said matter of factly that the Warriors have no path to contention next season.

"You're not in the playoffs," Barkley said. "You think you're going to get healthier for next year? You're just going to get older. That's no disrespect. You guys had one of the greatest runs of all time.

"If you want to compete, you're going to have to leave there. If Steph wants to compete, he's going to have to leave there."

"What if they bring the right pieces in?" Smith asked.

"They can't bring the right pieces because they don't have any cap space," Barkley replied.

The Warrios have access to their next seven first-round picks. They could trade their firsts in 2026, 2028, 2030 (only conveys if it falls in the top 20) and 2032 as well as pick swaps in the 2027, 2029 and 2031. They have the ammo to acquire one superstar or multiple fringe stars.

They are unlikely to win the Giannis Antetokounmpo sweepstakes, but there are pathways to get Kawhi Leonard, Aaron Gordon or Derrick White.

What's most likely to happen is team governor Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. decide the price for a star is more than they are willing to pay.

But to be clear, the Warriors front office is choosing not to be competitive.

If they had traded most of their picks like the Bucks have, then they would be truly out of options to build a contender.

But because they have these picks, they can bring in the right pieces despite having no cap space.

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