Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green strongly believes that inept NBA franchises need to be held accountable when their highly touted draft selections don't pan out.
On Wednesday night, Green was asked about one of the Warriors' newest acquisitions, Marquese Chriss, who has bounced around the league since being drafted eighth overall by the Sacramento Kings (and immediately traded to the Phoenix Suns) in 2016. In his response, Green spoke about how it's always the young player who gets thrown under the bus for not being good enough, while the "shitty franchises" get a pass.
Says Draymond (H/T ESPN):
"I think everyone was just kind of waiting on him to turn that corner. He seems like he's turning the corner. I think he's been in some pretty tough situations. No one ever blames the situation, though. It's always the kid. No one ever blames these shitty franchises."
"[People] always want to blame the kid," Green continued. "It's not always the kid's fault. He's getting older now, so he's not a kid anymore. But he came into this league as a kid, but it's never the organization's fault. It's always that guy. So I'm happy he's gotten the opportunity show what he can really do because it's a prime example. But no one will still blame any organizations. It'll always be the kid's fault, and it will be the next kid that comes in's fault and the next kid after that. So I'm happy he's gotten this opportunity."
Chriss, 22, split time between the Houston Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers last year, averaging 4.2 points and 3.3 rebounds in 43 games. He signed with the Warriors this past summer and he could get some meaningful minutes as Golden State's other big men, Kevin Looney and Willie Cauley-Stein deal with injuries.
Golden State will open the 2019-20 regular season at home against the Los Angeles Clippers on October 24.