Behind the Fizzling-Out of the Nets and Warriors Talks on KD
When the Kevin Durant sweepstakes began, one team didn’t seem like they were a part of the discussion despite having arguably the best package in order to land the superstar from the Brooklyn Nets. The Golden State Warriors were only brought up as a joking “what if” when it came to KD, as they were fresh off a championship with a core that didn’t include him anymore.
However, reality started to set in fast that this was something actually within reach. Despite being fresh off a Finals victory over the Celtics, the Warriors have possibly one of the best young cores in the league, and there were even reports that the team’s stars - Steph Curry included - had reached out about the possibility of a reunion:
The response was mixed amongst Warriors fans. While many recognized how much better KD would make this team, many others weren’t willing to sell a bright future with longevity of success for a star who had left them before. Thankfully, it was a conversation that was only a hypothetical.
After the haul the Utah Jazz took for Rudy Gobert, it seemed like getting Kevin Durant from the Nets was going to cost a team both arms and both legs. It was shortly after talks around Utah’s star player Donovan Mitchell and the theorized asking price for him that Bob Myers made his stance on the matter clear, despite the front office saying prior that they were open to having KD back.
Some fans may be disappointed in this. Others may be ecstatic. Regardless of where you stand, when you look at Golden State’s cap situation, a KD trade would not have freed them up to put a competent roster around the star core. As good as they are, you really do need 8 to 10 guys on the rotation who can give you quality minutes on a given night. The Warriors already have a deep rotation, but it’d get quite a bit shallower if they landed Durant.
ESPN’s Kendra Andrews recently went on reporter Zach Lowe’s podcast, where the two talked about what it’d take for Durant to go back to the Bay. Reportedly, the Nets were asking for: Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, and multiple first round draft picks.
Yikes. You can listen to The Lowe Post episode here to get the full picture:
That’s two guys who were very important to the Warriors’ playoff success last season, two guys who are going into their second year but have high enough ceilings to be rotation players at this point, and a #2 overall pick who has a ton of potential still to unlock. And that’s not accounting for future draft capital. The Nets wanted the entire farm and then some in order to give up KD.
A Poole-Wiggins led team would probably be relatively competitive in the East. However, they’re both still pretty young, and it’d be much better to see those two do their things in Warriors uniforms alongside the young guns. So while it would have been fine to terrorize the league for another few years with Kevin Durant, the Warriors ultimately decided to bank on future success with what they’ve built from within. There’s so much faith in this team that owner Joe Lacob decided it was worth getting fined half a million dollars to call it like it is: The luxury tax rules are unfair to teams which try to build success through the draft.
At this moment, it’s looking closer and closer to impossible that KD ends up back with Golden State. While it’s tough to rule anything out, the Timberwolves giving up so much for Rudy Gobert’s lack of versatility beyond shotblocking and rebounding put the rest of the league in a bad position by raising Durant’s market value, because Durant is a whole hell of a lot better than Gobert. The Warriors still have some roster space which they can fill out with G-League guys or more free agents, but for now, it looks like they’re out of the KD sweepstakes.
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