Kevin Durant’s Free Agency Destination Power Rankings
2. Golden State Warriors
In terms of basketball fit, the Golden State Warriors are easily the best option for Kevin Durant. If the Dubs could win 73 games and come one game shy of repeating as back-to-back NBA champions with Harrison Barnes starting at small forward, just imagine what they could accomplish by upgrading that spot to Kevin Durant.
There’d be a certain amount of sacrifice required to make this happen. The Dubs would have to let go of Leandro Barbosa, Marreese Speights, Anderson Varejao, Brandon Rush, Ian Clark, James Michael McAdoo; withdraw their qualifying offers for restricted free agents Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli; and then trade Andrew Bogut‘s contract without taking on any salary.
The Warriors’ “Strength In Numbers” identity would change overnight, the Dubs would need some definite help at the center position and they’d have to fill out the rest of the roster with minimum-level contracts.
The idea: GSWs would have to shred their depth to make room to sign Durant, then try to add Nowitzki (or somebody else) for the mid-level.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) June 21, 2016
However, there’s no denying that a Stephen Curry–Klay Thompson-Kevin Durant-Draymond Green core would be an absolute terror for the rest of the league to deal with.
Remember all those wide open corner threes Harry B missed in the Finals? Good luck with Kevin Durant missing those. Remember how Curry wasn’t the same after his MCL sprain and the Splash Brothers disappeared in the season’s defining moments? Don’t expect that to happen to Curry, Klay AND Durant at the same time.
The Dubs would need to convince useful role players to sign on for very little money, but the prospect of playing with that kind of elite four-man core would be a pretty effective persuasion tactic for role players looking for a ring.
It seems odd for the NBA’s all-time winningest regular season team to consider such a major shakeup, but considering the way Harry B and Ezeli flamed out in the playoffs and the fact that the Dubs failed to complete their historic season, Golden State wouldn’t be doing its due diligence if it didn’t try to add one of the five best players in the NBA.
Draymond Green on Warriors potentially getting Durant: "I've always been taught that you're either getting better or you're getting worse."
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) June 27, 2016
After all, a team with Curry, Thompson, KD, Draymond, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston would be easy favorites to win the 2017 title, no matter how they fill out the rest of the roster.
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