Free agent Wizards swingman Jared Dudley doesn’t see #KD2DC happening, he told Kevin Sheehan on ESPN 980. Via Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post:
“I realistically don’t [see Durant signing with Washington],” Dudley said. “I hope for the fans they do, because he’s from there, and he would bring such excitement. They’d be right behind Cleveland, right there with them to be able to contend. I don’t see it though.”
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“It’s the system the NBA built,” he said. “In general, no star player’s leaving to go to another team. … The system’s built for these guys to stay. Guys like Kevin Durant, Al Horford: The Wizards most likely will be going after these players, as they should. Are they really going to leave that money on the table?”
Dudley said since mega free agency is a low-percentage play, teams like the Wizards need to focus on drafting well, developing their young pieces and then trading assets for a star player. But he also said the Wizards have a good chance to land some type of star player in free agency; “not an all-star, but right underneath that,” he said. “And I think that they have another all-star on their team in Bradley Beal.”
Dudley is right; the most likely scenario is that Durant re-ups with Durant–at least for one more season. He can explore free agency with the higher cap next summer, at the same time as Russell Westbrook.
