Warriors' Draymond Green hopes to return within three to four weeks

Working his second job as a TNT analyst during Sunday’s All-Star Game, Warriors forward Draymond Green offered a rough timeline for his return from a back/disc injury that has sidelined him since Jan. 9.

Asked by TNT’s Charles Barkley when he’ll be “coming out of retirement,” Green laughed, then replied, “Hopefully within three to four weeks, that’s what I’m shooting for” (video link via Rob Lopez of FanDuel).

As usual, Green’s scoring numbers have been modest this season through 34 games (29.9 MPG), but he has supplemented his 7.9 PPG with 7.6 RPG, 7.4 APG and stellar defense.

The Warriors still have the NBA’s best defensive rating (104.6), but they haven’t been nearly as effective on that side of the ball since Green went down. That league-best defensive rating was at 101.9 after Jan. 9 — since then, the club has recorded a 109.9 mark.

Golden State is also waiting on James Wiseman‘s return from a knee injury that has kept him on the shelf for the entire 2021-22 season so far. Wiseman, who has participated in 5-on-5 scrimmages, said last week that he’s in the final stages of his rehab process, so the expectation is that both he and Green will be back well before the playoffs get underway in mid-April.