What if OKC, on the fear of Durant never being the same after this injury and possibly leaving in another year, do a sign-and-trade Love for Durant this offseason. Love and Westbrook were college teammates, so Love could go for it. Westbrook-Love-Ibaka still has contention potential, and pairs Westbrook with a more complimentary piece. GM already on record saying he will explore Durant trades, what better return than Love for a potentially less-than-100% Durant.
you never know. in my opinion though durant would not really want to win championships with lebron because he would not be seen as the best player. hell if i know what he really would want though.
the only thing worse than having westbrook as a pg is having kyrie as a pg, and blatt as a coach. i hate kyrie more than i hate anything in basketball, he's everything that is wrong with the nba.
Kyrie isn't really the pg, sure he's the shortest guy, but he's more of a short off guard, with Lebron playing the point, at least functionally.
The reason lebron has more assists than kyrie is because he actually passes the ball when he has it. I agree kyrie ain't much of a pg, becuase he only has 1 player in mind: himself.
They certainly would kill themselves, and certainly OKC would do it if they have legitimate concerns about: A) Durants long term health B) Their ability to resign Durant C) Their recognition that Westbrook and Durant may not ever be able to coexist from an efficiency/effectiveness perspective again on the court after Westbrook has gone bananas without Durant. I think OKC is the one team that would trade Durant, they are the one team that understands fundamentally their future is forever altered if Durant walks away from that organization. They are like Utah, no marquee free agent will ever sign there so they have to rely on smart trading and smart drafting. It's not the same situation since he wasn't a top 3 talent in the league, but Utah traded Deron when he was an elite player. And yeah, it would be unbelivable to pair Durant/Lebron/Kyrie, ridiculous. Unfair. But logically where these two players and organizations are at the moment it at least seems like a possibility.
So the NBA's two best players on the same team plus a top 5 point guard in Irving? If owners don't veto this trade for "basketball" reasons then I don't know basketball. No way Presti trades away either Westbrook or Durant. At this point I think he would rather let both walk for nothing than deal with the scrutiny of trading a top 5 NBA player go. There is some pride in trying to bring your star player back but ultimately failing. If he trades away either KD or Westbrook and doesn't get Anthony Davis or a crap ton of 1st picks then he is going to get mocked and he will be forever known as the GM that traded away MVP candidates. Not a reputation anyone wants.
Don't understand the Kyrie hate, unless it's just 'what'... He is like a better version of Damian Lillard, and everyone just seems to love him.
I could not see that happening but I could see a love for ibaka/Adams or McGary trade. Could work out great for both teams
Rather then try to get Kevin Love (and put Durant with LeBron), OKC should try to get someone else in the East. Durant still has a ton of value, even with the risk. If Bosh was healthy, OKC could make a strong push for him + fillers. Perhaps even Butler + Noah, from Chicago. No idea if the salaries match - just thinking out loud. If he lets one or both go for nothing, that'll protect his reputation (to a degree), but then he'll be the GM of one of the bottom-dwellers of the West, hoping for a high draft pick year after year. If he trades away one or both players, he'll have at least somewhat reloaded the Thunder so that they're still relevant in competition. It's easy to think of your own reputation, but OKC's fans are going to eat Presti alive if he had a chance to soften the blow of a hypothetical WB/Durant exit, but chose not to because of self-preservation.
I've never loved the guy. I respect his skillset, but I agree that he plays selfishly from what I've seen of him. I admittedly don't watch every Cavs game, but when I do watch him I feel like his mindset is to "get his" more than doing what is necessary for his team to win. That could be due to the fact that he played his first 3 years in the league on a terrible team and hasn't adjusted to having teammates that can actually score. I could be wrong, I'm no coach or scout or anything of the sort; that's just what I see.
Interesting thought. But don't you think Presti would rather have one year of Corey Brewer, an interesting prospect in KJ McDaniels, the NOP first round pick, one of our future first round picks and another second round pick for Durant?? (hey, he fell for it once before)
