So you are banking on Houston being a destination for free agents to sign down the road? Big difference between New York and Houston.
That's why I'm not the one who brought it up, but since we're on the subject you know what veteran player made the Nets better immediately and unlocked other players for them? Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant missed his first season in Brooklyn and then played the second season. James Harden came on board that season and I would argue that James unlocked Claxton and Bruce Brown. James/Kevin playing together just put that team on a whole other level, but I wouldn't give the full credit to Kevin that 2020-2021 season.
Kevin Durant is close to retirement and this thread keeps popping up, keeps on going for no reason. Kevin Durant I think will retire in Phoenix.
Should've stayed the course with Spencer Dinwiddie then People like to hold up teams going for it as something bad. My counterpoint is: no it's good. In fact the Rockets tried with PHASE 2 pivot and it was a modest success.
You need to put it in the correct format. "Kevin Durant is a consummate professional. I hope he retires a Sun."
The future that you don't know - what if none of the Rockets current crew ever reaches all star level? Or what if they require some sort of change of scenery to get there. This is way more likely than most people here want to think it is. Then the worrying about Durant being on a different timeline is mooted. It's obviously a closer case, but half the poasters here were saying "Embiid naww we're good" last year after some breathless Kelly Iko offseason fanfic.
What if a gamble everyone makes including you. What if this is Durant's last productive year at a star level? Maybe we are in a new era of sports medicine where it's routine that 35 and older star vets still maintain their star status well into their late 30s or maybe LeBron is just that unique. We are talking about a 25 year old 15( year old vet here. Most players are talking about retirement at this stage.
Im not sure I saw anything from Durant last year that led me to believe he was slowing down. His game is perfectly aligned to age with him and he's on record saying he would like to play into his 40s. He'll just stick jump shot after jump shot in defenders faces and the only thing that can stop him is health.
I don't see him slowly aging out. The older you get the more likely a catastrophic injury like an Achilles tendon tear happens that ends seasons and careers. LeBron is at that stage where I wouldn't be surprised he has a season ending injury like that that ends his career all of a sudden. Tendons never age well.
That is true, but sticking jumpers tends to be easier on the body than flying around and playing like LeBron anyway. Durant just came off a ridiculously good season.
