The firing of Nico Harrison has now taken over the NBA world, and just like he is with other leading storylines around the league, Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors made his feelings clear on the decision to fire the general manager.
While many around the league are satisfied with the Dallas Mavericks’ move, hoping that it will signal a new era for the team, Green had the opposite opinion. Speaking on his podcast, the four-time champion said he didn’t understand the hate Harrison got because nobody had seen what the team looked like when healthy.
“Y’all just wanna go point the finger at Nico because that was a storyline. Now let’s make that a storyline again,” Green said. “That [expletive] is whack to me. So, next year, they come back, their full team that Nico intended to be out there, and they have success. Then what?”
Green is continuously outspoken about storylines around the league, but he appears to be on his own with his latest thoughts on the Harrison firing. The 2017 Defensive Player of the Year remained firm that Patrick Dumont letting Harrison go after the backlash from the Luka Doncic trade and the team’s poor start was the wrong move.
Draymond Green Doesn’t Hold Back On Nico Harrison Firing
Speaking on his show, Green made it clear that the Mavericks fans were too impatient with Harrison. With the Kyrie Irving injury and Anthony Davis’ inconsistent health, he said they had yet to see what the team looked like at full strength, and that a decision like this should have come later, if the wins still weren’t coming in.
“The team that he’s constructed to go win a championship hasn’t been on the court,” Green said. “Nobody assumed Kyrie Irving would tear his ACL. AD started out with the eye, he’s had the injury as of late. The team hasn’t really been out there.”
While his feelings are true, Dallas has dealt with numerous major health concerns since the Doncic trade, their 3-8 record is hard to ignore. Though Harrison claimed bringing in Davis, as well as adding Cooper Flagg, would put them in a better situation to ‘win now,‘ that hasn’t been the case so far.
Regardless, Green believes the decision came too early, saying nobody should have had high expectations for the Mavericks.
“Guess what teams that get the No. 1 pick usually look like the next year? Trash,” he added. “You’re going to play that No. 1 pick, and although they may have a ton of potential, they’ve got to learn the NBA game. And that takes time, mistakes, but you have to play them.”
Green’s point potentially has more weight now that Dallas is near the bottom of the Western Conference standings. However, they landed the first overall pick with the lowest odds of any team in NBA history and made the Play-In Tournament last year. Still, the proof is there, and they don’t look like an extremely competitive team to start the season.
Warriors Have Their Own Injury Concerns
Green was one of the first current NBA players to share his feelings on Harrison being fired. It wasn’t the first time he defended the now-infamous general manager, but his latest argument on health playing a part is certainly not being undersold.
Regardless, he has his own team to worry about, and interestingly enough, the Warriors have struggled with injuries to begin the season as well. Green himself has missed only one game, as is the case with Jimmy Butler. However, Stephen Curry has missed three, and while he is still putting up the 11th-highest scoring average in the league, he has been dealing with an apparent illness for the past few days.
Al Horford could also be a cause for concern in the Bay Area, as he has only appeared in seven games and is set to miss the Warriors’ next matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Before the season, it was announced that he wouldn’t play in any back-to-back games for the rest of his career, but that, along with the fact that head coach Steve Kerr has yet to start the former champion this year, could also be cause for concern.
Moses Moody, Will Richard, Trayce Jackson-Davis, and Pat Spencer have also missed multiple games, and though Golden State is 6-5, the role players missing time early in the season is hardly ever a good sign. De’Anthony Melton and rookie Alex Toohey have also yet to suit up this season with longer-term injuries.
The Warriors have gotten strong performances out of Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, and Buddy Hield, but as seen in the last postseason, they’ll need all of their stars healthy if they want to win multiple playoff rounds.
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