If durant is alpha with Westbrook, he will be alpha with kawhi. Westbrook's game is based on ball domination and volume shooting, whereas kawhi doesn't even shoot that much, he picks his spots. Durant will surely score significantly more than kawhi or LA in SA, just as he does in OKC.
Will leave if doesn't make the Finals. This attitude and the NBA culture in general right now really sucks ass. Why not just be better? Is that not an option? OKC has a crapload of talent. Perhaps he's just not happy playing with Westbrook. That's understandable, but playing with this version of Harden wouldn't be any better for him. This isn't the Harden from OKC. It makes no sense that people think the solution to beating teams like SAS and GSW is to combine a bunch of big names without regard to how they fit together, when that's the opposite of why those teams are so good.
but throwing people together can work. boston won a title. miami won 2. if you could have it all work organically, that would be great, but right now only 2 teams are doing it. and its not as if durant hasn't been with okc for enough time to let that happen. durant/westbrook is a longer-running elite duo than curry/thompson. duncan didn't have to wait at all to realize that being with the spurs was great. and it's not as if okc has done a terrible job of surrounding him with talent. really injuries have been their biggest problem. but what if durant's organization doesn't trade away last year's runner-up mvp? that's a huge misstep. then maybe he isn't looking around. great organizations are few and far between. taking matters into your own hand makes sense. maybe durant's part of the problem in okc (though i don't think so), but even if he is, then what good will continuing the same strategy do him? i'm not sure how much better he can realistically get, unless he just hasn't been working all that hard and even then, he would have to somehow believe that about himself. i also think some of it is simply the increased media around sports in the last 2 decades and especially now with social media. it just seems so much tougher to sit and watch everyone else win for a decade-plus while you hope your organization figures it out, especially if you think you're just as good as the guys winning. people seem to be more strongly judged on championships now instead of just individual ability, even to the point that you almost start to get criticized for having individual talent if your team isn't winning. and with free agency such a bigger deal as well, its hard to not want to be proactive when it is so easy to be proactive. someone like durant can't go draft and sign and coach guys in a new organization and just hope it builds itself well. but he can add himself to an organization that is more of a known commodity and stand a very good chance at a lot of success. i think at some point people like lebron and durant get sick of hearing "can he win it?" when they are doing all they can and so they just take matters into their own hand to prove it.
It's very hard to achieve what those respective teams have accomplished in respects to their team building, SAS has been doing it for over 15 years for comparison. Very few teams have 5 years to rebuild and reload to become a perennial contender under most mangements, what GSW has done is the perfect combination of luck and smarts.
I hope he doesn't tell Durant that on the Warriors/Spurs, he'll only win 45 games but on the Rockets he'd win 65. :grin:
Morey: Kevin, we have this strategy that we think will work. Durant: Go on, tell me more. Morey: Our plan? can kicking.
I'm surprised no one has brought up the following point. I am not basing this on anything, just pure speculation, however I feel very confident in making this claim: If the Warriors don't win the championship this year, meaning if the Spurs beat them, then Durant is a lock to head to Golden State. He'll be seen less as a ring chaser and more as the piece that is able to overcome San Antonio. Hate to say this but we as Rockets fans should hope the Warriors win.
The Warriors winning or losing the title this year has very little to do with whether he signs there or not. This Warriors group already won (granted they wouldn't have had Cleveland been healthy) a title and how Durant would or would not be viewed heading to Golden State won't change based on the outcome of the playoffs this season. It is every bit as likely Durant signs one year with OKC and opts out next season.
I could be wrong. Who knows what will actually happen. A year ago I thought LeBron would retire in Cleveland. Now from people associated with Rockets, they believe he really may leave this summer. A number of players like Paul and Anthony may force themselves out. Others like Love will almost certainly leave. Kyrie Irving is quite possibly headed elsewhere. A huge number of teams have cap space. All of that figures into possibly influencing Durant. He could join with several other high end free agents/trade prospects in a city we wouldn't expect. For example he could go to the Celtics with Love and have Paul demand a trade and end up there for a handful of draft picks. The Lakers could deal for Griffin and then lure Durant and another maximum free agent. Maybe James leaves Cleveland and calls Durant. James has hinted at taking a serious pay cut for the right situation. Imagine James, Durant and a third piece in Houston or Boston? I get that the Warriors are the best team going, but there are options. Would Durant and James and Paul beat the Warriors? I certainly think so. Durant and Harden and Love and Thibs? Probably. Westbrook has another year on his deal. Durant may sign a one year deal to see what Westbrook does in 2017.
I hear ya. You could be right. I know people say Durant doesn't care what people think and all but I really do believe whats stopping him from putting Warriors number 1 on his list is because his image would take a hit if they coast to a championship and he ends up looking like he's taking the easy route. But if they don't win this year, then I see great appeal there for Durant. Their style of play alone would attract Durant, not to mention the city and its fan base and giving him the best chance at multiple championships.
Lebron isn't leaving Cleveland. At least one of Kyrie/Love will be gone and both could very well be traded in the right deals. Kyrie for Paul would not surprise me at all.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Obviously, KD has to choose to leave OKC and I've also written, tweeted and said on radio I expect he'll stay 1 more year with Thunder</p>— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricPincus/status/715239848714481665">March 30, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Is the 1-year extension narrative really that important (J.R. posts it every 4 posts) - or can Nike just clear the difference for him with a major market contract bonus?
