There’s rarely a scenario in which the best team in the NBA has the opportunity to not only get a top free agent but possibly one of the top three players in the game. Over the summer, the San Antonio Spurs were able to sign LaMarcus Aldridge, the best free agent on the market, but he’s nowhere near the top of the list of the NBA’s best. Kevin Durant on the other hand has a legit argument as the top player in the NBA.
So of course with a small crack in the window of opportunity to bring in KD, why wouldn’t any team make that a possibility? There are some teams who can just offer Kevin Durant an outright max contract without having to do any interesting moves but there is one team who might have to get creative with their process to get Durant, the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors.
Following from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, ‘The Vertical’.
The Golden State Warriors’ plan of pursuit predates their 2015 championship run, a bold plot to declare the futility of resistance. It isn’t only that the NBA champions are determined to recruit Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant. The truth is that they’re the most intriguing destination to him. If Durant leaves the Thunder, the Warriors are the significant frontrunners to sign him, league sources told The Vertical.
Make no mistake: Durant isn’t close to gone in Oklahoma City – no decision, no leaning, sources said – but the real threats on the summer market are beginning to reveal themselves. Durant is determined to win – to be an immediate championship contender at 27 years old – and that keeps bringing him back to the Warriors should he make the decision to leave Oklahoma City.
Perhaps no Warriors player would sacrifice so much on a personal level, yet Green is unflinching in his support of signing Durant, league sources told The Vertical. He’s expected to be a tenacious recruiter of Durant for the Warriors’ contingent.
Here’s something else, too: Durant is forever searching for spiritual people in his life. It is a common thread of those who’ve found ways into Durant’s circle. It makes Steph Curry the most dangerous recruiter in the world on several levels: His prodigious talent, peaceful soul and grounded life.
‘The Vertical’ front office insider and former Brooklyn Nets assistant general manager Bobby Marks details how the Warriors can make it happen in nine steps.
1. Keep the big three of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
2. Guarantee Shaun Livingston’s contract.
3. Keep the young first round pick from 2015 in Kevon Looney.
4. Keep Festus Ezeli
5. Trade Andre Iguodala.
6. Use the stretch provision on Andrew Bogut
7. Use the stretch provision on Jason Thompson
8. Withdraw all qualifying offers and renounce Harrison Barnes as a free agent.
9. Renounce free agent cap holds on Mareesse Speights, Leandro Barbosa, Brandon Rush, James Michael McAdoo, Ian Clark, Jermaine O’Neal and Ognen Kuzmic.
This would see the Warriors hit about $30 million in cap space, freeing up the room to sign Durant to a max deal but it does dramatically thin their bench.
Sam Esfandiari notes the Dubs can also find another way to get about $29 million in cap room for Durant, taking a different approach this summer.
Re: article on how to sign KD. There is another way:
Trade Sdot, Bogut, stretch JT, renounce all cap hold except Festus. Would leave 29 mil— sam esfandiari (@samesfandiari) February 2, 2016
Getting Durant might not be as easy as many would seem. It’s not a game of NBA 2k. You can’t just trade away your talent without any pushback from opposing front offices. These teams will know what the Warriors are up to so why would any team willingly agree to any sort of trade or deal that would help free up the Warriors space? Besides, there’s at least one team in Los Angeles who could easily throw a monkey wrench in any of these plans.
#KD2GSW is not as sexy as #KD2DC but with Durant in a Warriors uniform, the NBA might not be able to handle the stranglehold that team would have over the NBA.
