Draymond Green Slams Knicks Playoff Run
Draymond Green can't rip the New York Knicks for their present, so he's instead targeting their future.
The Bay Area agitator believes that the Knicks' active run of success, which currently boasts a 2-0 lead over the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, is only setting their fans up for future disappointment.
"In the Eastern Confernce, you can get to the conference finals ... playing very mid teams," Green said on the latest episode of his eponymous web series. "That's kind of what (the Knicks) are doing right now."
Green, hosting entrepreneur and Knicks fan Jason Calacanis, goes on to compare Jalen Brunson's bunch to the 2020-21 Atlanta Hawks, who ironically beat New York in the first round before upsetting Philadelphia en route to the conference finals (where they fell to eventual champion Milwaukee). Atlanta has not won a playoff round since and missed out on this year's festivities after falling to Chicago in the opening round of the Play-In Tournament.
Green also offers a personal example from the West, recalling that his Golden State Warriors swept the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2019 conference finals. Portland has likewise struggled in the aftermath, as their futility has forced them to trade Damian Lillard.
Even though most of the Knicks' major pieces (i.e. Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart) are secured for at least two more seasons, Green sees this title run, staged without several major pieces (i.e. OG Anunoby, Julius Randle) as the next generation of metropolitan disappointment).
"It was a fluke," Green said of what the 2019 Blazers did. "That's what the Knicks are setting you all up for right now and it'll probably be another 15 years of misery that we all will sit around and laugh at Knicks fans with their delusion."
The Knicks haven't responded to the taunting of Green, who previously predicted that they would fall to a surging Philadelphia 76ers team led by Joel Embiid in six games. New York likely has bigger things on its mind, such as taking a 3-0 series lead on the Pacers come Friday night (7 p.m. ET, ESPN).
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI
Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks