Draymond Green calls out Suns GM over Kevin Durant comment
May 24, 2022; Dallas, Texas, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) reacts after a play against the Dallas Mavericks during the first quarter in game four of the 2022 Western Conference finals at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green is not happy with one recent remark from Phoenix Suns general manager James Jones.
Jones said at his year-end press conference that one of the Suns’ priorities is to “continue to figure out and maximize Kevin Durant.” The GM added that no team had yet done that, and the Suns would “be the first team to do it.”
That did not sit well with Green, who pointed out on “The Draymond Green Podcast” that Jones had been a player on the 2017 Cleveland Cavaliers team that lost to Durant and the Warriors in the NBA Finals. Green believes the Warriors very much got the best out of Durant at that time.
"You've been on the wrong side of Kevin Durant being maximized"
—@Money23Green responds to James Jones saying nobody has maximized KD yet pic.twitter.com/L58cd87zJb
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) May 3, 2024
“I was baffled when I watched James Jones make this comment,” Green said. “James Jones was on a team in 2017 that lost in the NBA Finals to Kevin Durant. And Kevin Durant averaged 35 (points), eight rebounds, and five assists on 55 percent from the field, 47 percent from three, 93 percent shooting. And when you got your a– bust like the Cavs got their a– bust, I have a hard time believing that James Jones could them come out and say no one has been able to maximize Kevin Durant.
“When your team does not have plays to get Kevin Durant coming off a pindown, get Kevin Durant catching the ball at the elbow with a live dribble, getting Kevin Durant to the spots that Kevin Durant wants to get to and likes to score from…when your team is set up that way, I’m sorry, but you didn’t maximize Kevin Durant. But don’t say nobody has maximized Kevin Durant because you’ve been on the wrong side of Kevin Durant being maximized.”
Durant was not the only option in Golden State, but the same is true of his role in Phoenix. Green makes some pretty good points about how dominant Durant was in the 2017 Finals, though perhaps Jones wants to do it more consistently than that.
Whatever the case, it sounds like Durant certainly agrees that the Suns were not getting the most out of him offensively.