Draymond Green was baffled when he heard some comments made by Phoenix Suns GM James Jones about Kevin Durant. Jones said no team has managed to maximize Durant after the Suns got swept and added they would be the first to do so. In response, Green savagely reminded him that the Golden State Warriors actually did it.
“James Jones was on a team in 2017 that lost in the NBA Finals to Kevin Durant, when Kevin Durant was with the Golden State Warriors,” Green said on The Draymond Green Show. “And Kevin Durant averaged 35 (points), eight rebounds, and five assists on 55% from the field, 47 from three, and 93% shooting (from the line).
“And when you got your a** bust, like the Cavs got their a** bust,” Green continued. “I have a hard time believing that James Jones — after sitting there on the bench, getting in a game every now and then to see if he can hit a three — could then 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 pin-down, get Kevin Durant catching the ball at the elbow with a live dribble, getting Kevin Durant to the spots that Kevin Durant want to get to and like to score from, when your team is set up that way,” Green said. “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.”
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Green said the Warriors allowed Durant to do the only thing he wanted to do, play basketball. He didn’t have to worry about leading a team and could just focus on his game. Green also felt that the Warriors maximized Durant on the defensive end, as he claimed the 14-time All-Star was one of the best rim protectors in the league during his time with the franchise.
Draymond thought one of the big reasons the Suns failed to get the best out of his former teammate was because they didn’t have a point guard. The 34-year-old told Jones that he needs to bring one in this offseason.
I agree with Green that not having a point guard did hurt Durant, and the Suns as a whole as well. Devin Booker and Bradley Beal are great secondary playmakers but the Suns had the two of them take turns trying to run the offense and it just didn’t work.
As for Draymond’s claim that the Warriors maximized Durant, perhaps they did. He played some of his best basketball during his time with the franchise from 2016 to 2019 and won two titles to go with two Finals MVPs.
Kevin Durant Was Not Comfortable With His Role In The Suns’ Offense
There is someone else apart from Green who also believes the Suns didn’t utilize Durant in the best possible way, the man himself. As per a report, Durant was not comfortable with his role alongside Devin Booker and Bradley Beal and had persistent issues with the offense. He felt he was relegated to the corner far too often in an offense that was built around pick-and-rolls.
Despite having such issues, Durant still averaged 27.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 0.9 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game in the 2023-24 season for the Suns. It perhaps speaks to the 35-year-old’s greatness that he put up those numbers despite not being comfortable.
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