Takeaways from Warriors' Win Over Magic: Green Could Be Losing Major Role

The Golden State Warriors used a dominant second half to rout the Orlando Magic 120-97 on Monday.

Stephen Curry had a game-high 26 points, Jimmy Butler had an efficient 21, and the Warriors allowed just 40 second-half points.

Normally, a takeaways piece off a dominant win would be headlined by positive storylines.

But instead we begin with a strange Draymond Green game.

Draymond Could Be Losing High-End Minutes Role

Draymond Green played a normal allotment of minutes in the first half before playing the first 3.5 minutes of the third quarter.

After he committed an awful turnover in transition, Steve Kerr called timeout. Kerr and Green got into a heated discussion (here is a video of it) before Green chose to go to the locker room to cool down.

He never got back in the game.

Overall, Green did not play poorly. In 18 minutes, he had nine points on 4-of-5 shooting, seven rebounds, two assists and just the one aforementioned turnover. He was a team-low minus-five, which isn't a surprise considering the Warriors were down by five when he checked out and ended up winning by 23.

After the game, ESPN's Anthony Slater asked Kerr if he would've gone back to Green. Before Slater could finish his question, Kerr said, "No, no, no. He wasn't going back in."

Later in the media session, Kerr spoke more about Green.

"We need Draymond. He's a champion. We've been together for a long time."

Kerr added: "I thought this was one of our better games. I thought the first half was brilliant. We just didn't make shots. I thought Draymond played great.

"The whole team was really, really good, but we were 3-for-18 from the three-point line. We just couldn't make anything in the first half. But the process was great and continued through the second half.

"Yeah, it's unfortunate what happened, but it happened."

Green has been struggling for weeks.

In his last six games, Green has a combined plus-minus of minus-62. He entered Monday second in the NBA in turnovers per 36 minutes.

This is one of the worst stretches of Green's career. My guess is the combination of his lack of trade value to rebuilding teams and his longtime relationships with Curry, Kerr and Joe Lacob mean he won't get traded, but I can't remember the last time I considered whether the Warriors were a better team with him off the floor.

At the least, Kerr has to consider playing Green less. Perhaps he's simply not a 30-plus-minute player anymore.

Podz and Moody Shine, Complicating Trade-Season Decisions

Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody have been up-and-down this season, so the Warriors have to predict whether Monday's "up" is a sign of things to come or another flash in the pan.

If it is the beginning of sustained good play, the Warriors could have much tougher trade decisons in the coming weeks.

Moody played easily his best game in over a month, scoring 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting with three assists and two blocks.

Podz came into Monday having played well over his last 10 games, but this was also one of his better games of the season, as he had 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting with five assists.

Moody was plus-23. Podz was a game-high plus-36(!).

They were outstanding on both ends, which makes you wonder if the Warriors should keep them at the trade deadline.

This is, of course, a common trap for the Golden State front office. They often claim they can't trade a player when he's struggling because his value is too low, but then they claim he's too important to trade when he's playing well.

Earlier today I wrote that the Warriors shouldn't trade Podz unless they get a) a big wing upgrade such as Trey Murphy III or Michael Porter Jr. or b) a big center upgrade such as Ivica Zubac.

If Moody can string together several good games in a row, he might deserve the same treatment.