Golden State Warriors: How Would Signing Kevin Durant Work?
The Basketball Fit
Obviously the Warriors would look vastly different with Kevin Durant in the starting rotation, and it’s hard to predict how they’d round out the rest of the roster with limited cap space — especially since this would all depend on whether the Dubs were able to sign him outright or had to execute a sign-and-trade.
If they managed to sign him outright, the Warriors could be looking at a potential starting five of Curry, Thompson, Durant, Green and Ezeli, with Barnes coming off the bench. That’s a fantastic core to start with, especially since we might even see free agents take major discounts to join the Dubs’ winning culture, much like we saw with the San Antonio Spurs this past summer.
If the Dubs had to execute a sign-and-trade, they’d be looking at something like Curry, Durant, Green, Bogut and Iguodala. Maybe Klay Thompson would be there, maybe he wouldn’t. Either way, the Warriors would have a Big Three capable of owning the West, but that’s not to say the transition would be seamless.
After all, what makes the Warriors so deadly once you get past Curry’s absurd shooting ability is their depth, continuity and team chemistry. Everyone’s on the same page. Breaking that up, even to bring in a superstar of Kevin Durant’s caliber, would be a risk in and of itself — especially if the Thunder were adamant about Klay Thompson being included in a sign-and-trade.
As we’ve seen for years with the Thunder, Durant is an able and willing passer. He’s one of the league’s most dangerous scorers, he’d bolster the Dubs’ already impressive rebounding, and though he’s not an elite defender, he’d be elite within the confines of quite possibly the league’s best defense.
And, of course, there’d be the fear that Golden State offense would instill in the hearts of opposing defenses.
Of course, Durant would also have to adjust to a more team-oriented offense in Golden State, since he’s used to pretty much doing everything with Westbrook in Oklahoma City. We’ve seen OKC’s offense break down for years at the end of close games, with Durant and Westbrook settling for ill-advised jumpers in iso-sets.
However, with a mastermind like Steve Kerr at the helm and so much talent at his disposal, a player of Durant’s caliber and basketball IQ would fit right in with enough time. Just picture a defense trying to stop Stephen Curry off the dribble AND Durant off the bounce on the wing.
Not only could the Dubs have Durant to spread the floor in those dangerous Curry/Green pick-and-rolls, but can you imagine defenses trying to defend a Curry/Durant pick-and-pop? They’d choke picking their poison. Every. Single. Time.
From a basketball perspective, these two MVPs joining forces is a terrifying thought, especially with Swiss Army knife Draymond Green serving his underrated role as facilitator and perennial glue guy. What the Warriors might lack in depth, they’d make up for in BEING PURELY UNSTOPPABLE on offense and potentially just as stout on defense.
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