Houston minus Dwight plus Durant and a 2nd max FA this offseason would be a better team than OKC could put together and it would be a team that would be together for several years. It would basically allow Durant to head to a better situation than he currently is in, and be in a bigger market, and still be "the guy" on a contender. There's other places that can offer him pretty good packages, but discounting what Houston has to offer just because of a bad season is pretty short sighted. Yeah, that's probably what it is, hopefully it's short lived.
He is already on a contender and they are better than Houston and can offer more money. But whatever. DD
He's on a team that will be together only one more year, a team that wasn't good enough to get it done this year and doesn't have a lot of ways to improve to get them over the hump next year. If his options are staying on an OKC team that is essentially just him and Wesbrook when it comes down to it, wouldn't he be better off on a team that would be him, Harden, and an additional max FA in Houston? I think most people would realize that he would be. What it then comes down to is if he wants to give it one more shot in OKC before finding a new team in order to maximize every penny he can get from his NBA salary, or if he wants to get into a better short and long term situation immediately. And that's not even talking about the other teams that offer him a better situation than the can offer him in OKC. Staying there for one more season is just about his worst possible option unless the ONLY thing he cares about is getting every penny he can from his NBA salary.
Westbrook is better than anyone we have, and there is no guarantee he leaves. Durant can sign a 2 year with a player option in year two to opt out with more money than any other team can offer. He is not coming to Houston. DD
WB maybe a better overall player compared to Harden, but Harden and Durant are a better fit compared to WB and Durant.
Exactly what I was going to say. On top of that you'd be including an additional max FA who would be better than anyone on OKC not named Westbrook or Durant. Like I said before, money is the ONLY reason to stay in OKC for one more year. Is Durant the kind of player that is willing to waste a year of what is left of his prime to maximize earnings? We'll find out.
Disagree, DD doesn't b**** and moan.....he tells the truth. Unfortunately, many on this board have no tolerance for and don't want to hear the truth. For most, living in a fantasy world is more fun than living in reality.
This. I don't agree with DD often. But for this case, keep fighting these idiots man. Can't wait til this is over.
DaDakota is an overgrown child who throws temper tantrums over mediocre players, and is wrong about just about everything he says because he lives in a world of black and white, and is incapable of removing emotion out of his rationale. Here is the simple truth: You want to be the best team, you go after the best players, period, end of story. Will we get Durant? Probably not, it doesn't mean you don't go out there and try, because it doesn't cost you anything.
While I'll admit it is fun for us to always go after the fun big name players, the cost is getting the next best big name player. Classic example is Lowry, we were so busy courting Melo (who apparently never seriously considered us) that we dropped the ball on a more than serviceable player. This will likely happen again this year when we waste valuable time courting Durant who has a 0% of coming here.
I don't think Durant leaves money on the table. He will sign a two year deal w/ OKC, decline his player option next summer and then make his decision.
Westbrook probably only has a couple more years of elite-level production left. Ultra-athletic PGs with shaky jumpers age like NFL running backs. Not that I think that would really enter into KD's decision-making.
Yeah I doubt that would factor in to Durant's decision, Westbrook is only in OKC for one more year anyway so it's not like he's planning on being teammates with him long term.
If he gives us a meeting, it means Stein is full of **** and that he is indeed considering us. Obviously the chance is really slim coming off one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history. If he does come here it's solely due to how close he is with Harden.
It's not wasting time because time is not a commodity in the nba free agency. Costing us Lowry has already been debunked and he was not going to make much difference anyway.
Sounds like a great case for signing a one year deal with OKC and opening yourself up for more money next summer.
