What could prove to be the best team in NBA history might get even even better next season and beyond – by absolutely frightening margins. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the Golden State Warriors are “significant” favorites to sign Kevin Durant this summer if he elects to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder.
If Durant leaves the Thunder, the Warriors are the significant frontrunners to sign him, league sources told The Vertical.
It bears stressing that the 2014 MVP hasn’t come close to making any definitive decision about his future. If sources who spoke to Yahoo are to be believed, though, nothing will loom larger to Durant when he hits the open market come July than the chance to win a championship. Perhaps just as importantly, Wojnarowski has learned that the defending champions are “determined” to make a strong push for the 27-year-old in free agency.
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.
If Durant decides he wants to play in Oakland, the Warriors’ road to making it happen is far less cluttered than seems possible – especially considering Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are all under contract through next season.
The surest way for Golden State to clear the necessary cap space to afford the seven-time All-Star a $25 million maximum salary? Withdrawing a qualifying offer to Harrison Barnes and letting him walk in free agency; trading veteran stalwarts Andre Iguodala and/or using the stretch provision on Andrew Bogut; and renouncing the rights to bit players like Marreese Speights, Leandro Barbosa, and Brandon Rush.
Making those moves would leave the Warriors bereft of the depth that’s allowed them to withstand a series of minor injuries over the past season and-a-half. But with a potential core like Curry, Durant, Thompson, and Green – not to mention the possible returns of role players Festus Ezeli and Shaun Livingston in this dream scenario – Golden State would be prohibitive title favorites again in 2015-16 no matter how it fills out the roster’s periphery.
The Warriors might already be in the midst of a dynasty. And by shocking the world and signing the most sought-after free agent since the turn of the decade, Curry and company could reign supreme over the league for many more years than even optimists are currently anticipating.
(Via Yahoo Sports)
