Washington Wizards: Kevin Durant Should Not Be Top Priority

There’s absolutely no secret from any team in the NBA, including the Washington Wizards, that there has been a free agency trend going on, especially regarding the league’s biggest stars and most attractive free agents. Despite them all being grown men, they get homesick.

OK, this isn’t anything like them actually calling their mothers wanting to go home like a child at summer camp, but more and more, players are looking to stick with what they know, including in their hometown.

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Nick Young has played much of his career for L.A. teams, where he grew up. I still think the classic hometown player in the NBA is Udonis Haslem of the Miami Heat, who grew up in Florida and has always re-signed with the Heat, and stayed local (and won three titles in the process).

Carmelo Anthony spent nearly the first decade of his life in the Big Apple, and went to college in Syracuse, N.Y. When he was last given a big free-agency opportunity, he decided to come back to the state and play with the New York Knicks.

The biggest, and most famous example of the hometown player is the glorious return of LeBron James to his beloved Ohio, when he came back to the Cleveland Cavaliers after spending several successful years with the Miami Heat. This really is the trademark “I’m coming to play ball at home” story.

More recently, and more relevant to the Wizards, Paul Pierce left the Wizards to play with the Los Angeles Clippers. Pierce grew up in this area, and is now one of the hometown free agents that was swayed to return to his roots.

Of course it makes sense for fan speculation that this would happen to a certain D.C. native (yes, I’m talking about Kevin Durant). It seems like the past few years, no matter what happens with the Wizards and who they sign, Durant is always on the back burner, and always a topic of discussion.

Maybe this isn’t such a good thing, especially as the time when he will be a free agent comes closer and closer.

Of course, fan speculation won’t be slowed. It never will be. Fans will speculate and make their own assumptions and put their wishes for the future out there. We just have to hope the front office isn’t as radical, especially in this scenario.

Unfortunately, I think they’re focusing a little too much on this effort to get Durant, a little too soon. The Washington Post described the Wizards efforts at preparing to sway Durant as “meticulous.” I believe they need to focus more on what’s in front of them for this season.

Sure, having Durant in the team would be a huge blessing. He’s averaging 27.3 points per game throughout his career. He’s a former MVP, to add to that list of accomplishments. A free-agent pickup like that doesn’t happen overnight, and getting the ball rolling on a pitch for Durant on July 1, 2016, is a good idea.

But the roster they currently have can be looked at as one that is poised for a great season, and possibly even a run in the next few years even without Durant.

The thing is, especially this year, it’s a roster that needs attention. There are young guys who really need to start getting developed. Otto Porter and Kelly Oubre are the most notable names of this nature. Attention can’t be wasted on Durant who isn’t even currently a member of the team. The focus needs to be surrounding the team that is at hand now.

And there’s absolutely no promise with Durant, since half of the league will be lobbying to get Durant on their squad and only one team will get to sway him their way.

Sure, by all means, they need to get a pitch ready for Durant, but it definitely should not be their current top priority. The Wizards could be poised at making a tittle run even without Durant, but not if day-to-day operations are simply ignored. In my opinion, the bigger rush should be with getting an extension done with Bradley Beal. Losing him to free agency would be devastating.

As the Post mentions, the Wizards actually had another connection with Durant on their Summer League squad. Damian James is noted as Durant’s best friend, and had this to say about the situation and where he feels Durant will end up:

"“He’ll do whatever it takes to win. Whoever gives him the best chance to win is where he’s going to end up.”"

A great pitch for Durant and showing him that Washington is the place where he can win is taking the team they currently have, and taking them as far as possible. They do this by focusing on their current roster. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to have the Wizards go to Durant and say, “Look, we took this team to the conference finals this year, with you we could take it even further”?

That would be a pretty tough offer to turn down, if Durant is really looking for the location that offers him an opportunity to win a championship.

Right now, it’s the offseason, so the reason for a lot of the Durant talk is media looking for something to get people to pay attention. However, I still believe it’s a prevelant topic in Washington’s front office, and not just click bait and speculation. In my opinion, there needs to be a balance, and they must make sure they’re focusing their efforts in the team they have this year as well.

They’ve got time to worry about Durant later, and can even use their focus to better themselves currently as a selling point to Durant in 2016.

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