Warriors' Draymond Green Defends Andrew Wiggins: He's 'Not a F--king Bum'

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green had strong words when defending the newly acquired Andrew Wiggins when speaking to reporters Wednesday.

"It's not like we gotta take his hand and walk him through," the Michigan State product said. "This guy's averaged 20 points in this league for three, four years. ... It's not a f--king bum we're talking about. I'm not gonna sit here and act like we found some diamond in the rough."

While Wiggins is just 24 years old, he is a veteran who has been in the league since the Cleveland Cavaliers selected him with the No. 1 pick of the 2014 NBA draft. This is his sixth season in the league but the first time he has played for a team outside of the Minnesota Timberwolves—who acquired him from the Cavaliers via trade.

Golden State traded D'Angelo Russell, Jacob Evans III and Omari Spellman to the Timberwolves for Wiggins, a 2021 top-three protected first-round pick and a 2021 second-round pick.

The Warriors will not make the playoffs in this injury-riddled campaign, but they are still coming off five straight trips to the NBA Finals and are largely seen as a winning organization. That is something of a contrast for Wiggins, who made the playoffs just once in Minnesota.

He may need some time to adjust, although Green's comments indicate the team expects him to be a primary contributor after he averaged 22.4 points in 42 games with the Timberwolves this season.

How Wiggins, who is under contract through the 2022-23 season, performs next season when the Warriors are expected to contend again with a healthy Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson will be more important.

Green set the bar high and said Wiggins "can be an All-Defensive player" and "reminds" him of Kevin Durant on that side of the floor.

If the Kansas product can live up to those expectations and take advantage of the openings playing alongside the Splash Brothers naturally creates, Golden State will likely once again find itself among the top teams in the Western Conference in 2020-21.