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The Kevin Durant To Washington Thread (Part 1)

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The Kevin Durant To Washington Thread (Part 1) 

Post#1 » by Wizardspride » Tue Aug 6, 2013 9:53 am

This topic came up in another thread and at the suggestion of another poster I decided to create a thread.


Not saying this is going to happen but I believe the odds are potentially greater than widely believed.

Click on the link to read the rest.
http://wizardsxtra.com/2013/08/01/kevin-durant-to-the-wizards/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Kevin Durant to the Wizards?


In a piece found on Slate.com, blogger Michael Yglesias, breaks down the recent Zach Lowe piece detailing the Oklahoma City circumstances which allowed James Harden to leave OKC. You can read Lowe’s piece here and Yglesias piece here.

Here’s the cliff notes:

Clayton Bennett made a decision to move the Seattle Supersonics to his hometown of Oklahoma City. The team has been successful in Oklahoma City but unfortunately the media market is only so large to generate the type of revenue a team needs to go above and beyond. According to Lowe, OKC makes $15 million a year annually from their local TV contracts compared to lets say, the Lakers who make $250 million. Dollars are more important in OKC than they are in other cities.

Seattle has a media market almost triple OKC. Despite the success of the team, the media market won’t necessarily grow and future situations like what took place with Harden could occur again in the future. Does Durant want to risk that a second go around? Durant witnessed his team allow a guy like Harden to walk away in the middle of their championship run(s), does that resonate in Durant and turn even the most loyal of guys like KD to look elsewhere once his contract is up?

The writer poses the question and then follows up asking the rhetorical question of: would Durant want to go back home and play for the Washington Wizards? Hmmm….








Click on the link to read the rest.
http://www.philstar.com/sports/2013/07/04/961402/durant-stays-loyal-roots" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Durant stays loyal to roots

If he weren’t playing for the Thunder, Durant said he would prefer to play for the Washington Wizards. “I’m not suggesting it will happen someday,” he said. “I’m happy at Oklahoma City but it would be cool playing before friends and family in D. C. Right now, I love Oklahoma City, my new home.”
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Re: The Official Kevin Durant To Washington Thread 

Post#2 » by barelyawake » Tue Aug 6, 2013 1:01 pm

I hope this thread goes 99 pages, including Durant demanding a trade to DC around page 21 and page 21 1/2 people bashing EG for giving up too much for Durant. Wall, Beal and Durant would win a championship (even with random fans playing the other two spots), so I endorse every bit of media speculation that helps promote the idea.
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Re: The Official Kevin Durant To Washington Thread 

Post#3 » by Dat2U » Tue Aug 6, 2013 1:10 pm

I think Durant in the past said he wouldn't really want to play in DC because of all the potential distractions of playing in your hometown. Not sure if his tune has really changed on that.

And I had heard right after the Harden trade OKC was actually planning to extend Harden but changed it's tune after Harden slow played the negotiations and initially balked at taking a slight discount like Westbrook did. So Presti traded him because he felt Harden wasn't willing to sacrifice like the others for one goal. I think the articles coming out on the OKC matter are dealing with a little revisionist history about OKC making this move mainly for financial reasons.
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Re: The Official Kevin Durant To Washington Thread 

Post#4 » by Wizardspride » Tue Aug 6, 2013 1:31 pm

Dat2U wrote:I think Durant in the past said he wouldn't really want to play in DC because of all the potential distractions of playing in your hometown. Not sure if his tune has really changed on that.


Yep. KD has said that in the past...but the quote I posted was from just a month ago.

Could be nothing or.......
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Re: The Official Kevin Durant To Washington Thread 

Post#5 » by Rafael122 » Tue Aug 6, 2013 1:38 pm

Dat2U wrote:I think Durant in the past said he wouldn't really want to play in DC because of all the potential distractions of playing in your hometown. Not sure if his tune has really changed on that.

And I had heard right after the Harden trade OKC was actually planning to extend Harden but changed it's tune after Harden slow played the negotiations and initially balked at taking a slight discount like Westbrook did. So Presti traded him because he felt Harden wasn't willing to sacrifice like the others for one goal. I think the articles coming out on the OKC matter are dealing with a little revisionist history about OKC making this move mainly for financial reasons.


The paycut, IIRC, was something around $20 million, and Harden had a day to decide. I think that's how it went down.

But the way I see it, the Wizards have 3 opportunities at getting a prime free agent within the next 2-3 offseasons.

2014: Cousins
2015: Love
2016: Durant
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Re: The Official Kevin Durant To Washington Thread 

Post#6 » by Dat2U » Tue Aug 6, 2013 1:48 pm

I honestly don't consider Cousins or Love prime free agents. Especially Cousins, he'd have to improve a great deal to be worthy of the type of contract he'll get and I question whether he can handle the expectations that will be put upon him. He hasn't handled stress too well in the past.

Love in his career has prioritized defensive rebounding over challenging shots. I think this is part of the reason why Minnesota hasn't won anything because that's not winning basketball. Good defenses like the Spurs & Heat have correctly prioritized challenging shots over rebounding.

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2013/03/2 ... -the-same/

Love & Cousins are both rebounding monsters. But that may not be what's important.
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Re: The Official Kevin Durant To Washington Thread 

Post#7 » by payitforward » Tue Aug 6, 2013 2:01 pm

Durant to DC -- that's far-fetched.

Harden to DC??? Within our grasp but we passed on it. @#%$#^*%#!!!!
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Re: The Official Kevin Durant To Washington Thread 

Post#8 » by Ruzious » Tue Aug 6, 2013 2:21 pm

I'm all for planning for the future, but we talking pract... er we're talking 2016. And since we'll already have Wall, Beal, and Lebron, it'd be difficult to fit him under the cap.
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Re: The Official Kevin Durant To Washington Thread 

Post#9 » by doclinkin » Tue Aug 6, 2013 2:29 pm

It is a change of tune from the past though, and nice guy that he is it's rare to read anything other than "I'm happy where I am" quotes. The speculation may be fueled by his apparent dissatisfaction with the OKC offseason moves:

The story back home with the Thunder, though, isn't nearly as warm. Not after a tepid offseason in which Oklahoma City -- still facing steep luxury-tax concerns even after trading away James Harden last October -- let Kevin Martin go in free agency and just lost out to the Memphis Grizzlies in the race to sign free-agent marksman Mike Miller.

Now we're talking about Durant here, so there wasn't a single word uttered during Wednesday's session with the media signaling dissatisfaction with the Thunder's summer.

However ...

It certainly left you wondering when the 24-year-old, when asked to assess his team's business to date in July, offered nothing more than "I love it" before walking away from the assembled press pack to bring the interview to a halt.

Which is certainly not the norm with one of the foremost gentlemen in the modern game.

Because of the long-term money invested in Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka, Oklahoma City made the decision to settle for creating a trade exception to salvage something from Martin's free-agent exodus to Minnesota. The Thunder, by limiting themselves to low-cost moves in free agency, are thus putting the onus on Westbrook's recovery from knee surgery and the continued development of youngsters such as Reggie Jackson and Jeremy Lamb to enable their star trio to be sufficient to keep the club inching closer to a championship.

Yet it has to sting to hear the latest rumbles in circulation about Miller -- personally recruited by Durant to come to OKC after Miami let him go via the amnesty clause -- choosing Memphis in part because Miller sees the Grizzlies as closer to getting to the Finals than the Thunder.

We repeat: This is Durant. So it's a bit of a leap to outright say he's dismayed with developments in OKC on the basis of one walk-off answer. Many of the reporters around him, truth be told, broke out into laughter when Durant brought a halt to the question-and-answer session so abruptly.

Thunder officials can only hope Durant was simply in a rush to do what always wants to do most. Which is to say ... play.


Description of his tone and body language when asked about OKCs offseason moves had him seemingly disgusted, or grim. Anyway it's a small flaw in the heat shield.
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Re: The Official Kevin Durant To Washington Thread 

Post#10 » by montestewart » Tue Aug 6, 2013 2:53 pm

payitforward wrote:Durant to DC -- that's far-fetched.

Harden to DC??? Within our grasp but we passed on it. @#%$#^*%#!!!!

Before that chance came and went, I would have considered that pretty far fetched too. What's really pretty far-fetched to me is imagining EG landing such a player for the Wizards in any way other than having a lousy team with a high draft pick.
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Re: The Official Kevin Durant To Washington Thread 

Post#11 » by doclinkin » Tue Aug 6, 2013 3:17 pm

Is it impossible though? Or only on teams with a supermax player. Good thing Wall never made an allstar team:

For the curious or self-hating among you: Durant's extension contained language to the effect of Durant receiving the maximum-allowable salary under the CBA. Under the old CBA, that would have amounted to 25 percent of the salary cap — or about $74 million over five years. But the new CBA created something informally known as the "Derrick Rose Rule," which allowed players who had met certain very hard-to-reach criteria over their first four seasons to earn up to 30 percent of the cap as a maximum salary. Durant met those criteria, which include a certain number of All-NBA appearances or selections as an All-Star starter. The league concluded near the end of the lockout that the vague language in Durant's contract meant he should receive the 30 percent max, even though he signed that contract before the 30 percent max existed. It was a $15 million interpretation, one that also allowed Oklahoma City to carry two players — Durant and Russell Westbrook — to whom they gave five-year extensions after their rookie deals. Teams are now only allowed to have one such player, another source of leaguewide grumbling.
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Re: The Official Kevin Durant To Washington Thread 

Post#12 » by Higga » Tue Aug 6, 2013 3:23 pm

I wish. Durant could actually surpass RG3 as King of D.C. since he's from the area and would be resurrecting basketball in the capital. But it won't happen.
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Re: The Official Kevin Durant To Washington Thread 

Post#13 » by FAH1223 » Tue Aug 6, 2013 4:08 pm

Durant is ALWAYS in the area when it isn't the season. I think he'd love to play here.

It shouldn't be too hard to get max cap room by 2016.
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Re: The Official Kevin Durant To Washington Thread 

Post#14 » by tontoz » Tue Aug 6, 2013 6:09 pm

A lot of people said Harden to DC was far fectched but it was a real possibility that almost happened. Durant would be a UFA and playing with a pass first pg like Wall instead of a chucker like Westbrook might have some appeal.

Of course this is assuming the Wizards actually have capspace. Given how much EG likes to spend ASAP that is probably the main stumbling block. Hopefully EG will be gone next summer.
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Re: The Official Kevin Durant To Washington Thread 

Post#15 » by stevemcqueen1 » Tue Aug 6, 2013 6:35 pm

Dat2U wrote:I honestly don't consider Cousins or Love prime free agents. Especially Cousins, he'd have to improve a great deal to be worthy of the type of contract he'll get and I question whether he can handle the expectations that will be put upon him. He hasn't handled stress too well in the past.

Love in his career has prioritized defensive rebounding over challenging shots. I think this is part of the reason why Minnesota hasn't won anything because that's not winning basketball. Good defenses like the Spurs & Heat have correctly prioritized challenging shots over rebounding.

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2013/03/2 ... -the-same/

Love & Cousins are both rebounding monsters. But that may not be what's important.


Love's not a shot blocker. It is what it is. But defensive rebounding is really important. Teamwide, SA is fantastic on the defensive glass, and that's what you need to be. You need to be able to end possessions. Having one player that can handle so much of the rebounding duty on his own would be a fabulous luxury. He could cover up for the guys around him.

Love will never be much of a shot alterer, but at least he boxes out and crashes the boards. You can still play good defense with him in your front court if you pair him with a good rim protector. And he's such a glass eater that you can pair him with guys who are shot contestors but subpar rebounders and have it all even out.

That's what works for Memphis with Gasol and ZBo. Gasol isn't a great rebounder, but he's an amazing defender and Zbo is a terrific rebounder. ZBo is actually a worse defender than Love, and he and Gasol go together like PB & J.

It's kind of the same dynamic Indy has with West and Hibbert too.

We've got decent shot blockers and space eaters and positional defenders but very few glass eaters. Team rebounding is a weakness for us, Okafor and Booker are our only physical rebounders. It'd be nice to have someone like Cousins or Love that can control the glass.
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Re: The Official Kevin Durant To Washington Thread 

Post#16 » by Dat2U » Tue Aug 6, 2013 7:00 pm

stevemcqueen1 wrote:
Dat2U wrote:I honestly don't consider Cousins or Love prime free agents. Especially Cousins, he'd have to improve a great deal to be worthy of the type of contract he'll get and I question whether he can handle the expectations that will be put upon him. He hasn't handled stress too well in the past.

Love in his career has prioritized defensive rebounding over challenging shots. I think this is part of the reason why Minnesota hasn't won anything because that's not winning basketball. Good defenses like the Spurs & Heat have correctly prioritized challenging shots over rebounding.

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2013/03/2 ... -the-same/

Love & Cousins are both rebounding monsters. But that may not be what's important.


Love's not a shot blocker. It is what it is. But defensive rebounding is really important. Teamwide, SA is fantastic on the defensive glass, and that's what you need to be. Having one player

At least Love boxes out and crashes the boards. You can still play good defense with him in your front court if you pair him with a good rim protector. And he's such a glass eater that you can pair him with guys who are shot contestors but subpar rebounders and have it all even out.

That's what works for Memphis with Gasol and ZBo. Gasol isn't a great rebounder, but he's an amazing defender and Zbo is a terrific rebounder. ZBo is actually a worse defender than Love, and he and Gasol go together like PB & J.

It's kind of the same dynamic Indy has with West and Hibbert too.

We've got decent shot blockers and space eaters and positional defenders but very few glass eaters. Team rebounding is a weakness for us, Okafor and Booker are our only physical rebounders. It'd be nice to have someone like Cousins or Love that can control the glass.


Defensive rebounding is so important that the Heat, Spurs, Bulls & Celtics all have deprioritized it and focused more on challenging shots. Heat were at the bottom of the league last two years. It's nice to be a good defensive rebounding team but the correlation b/w defensive rebounding and wins isn't that strong.
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Re: The Official Kevin Durant To Washington Thread 

Post#17 » by Chocolate City Jordanaire » Tue Aug 6, 2013 8:16 pm

What offseason moves could Durant not have liked?

--OKC lost Kevin Martin to Minnesota. Martin wanted to reunite with Adelman (and probably to start). He took less than market value for his ability. The Harden replacement veteran walked.

--The Thunder drafted defensive prospect C, Steven Adams, one pick before Olynyk. Other picks they might have considered were Gorgui Dieng and Lucas Noguiera; but it remains to be seen how good Adams becomes. Olynyk is looking not too shabby.

--OKC drafted Andre Roberson and without cause, the Thunder lowballed Roberson's contract offer.

Of the offseason moves, Durant probably wasn't happy that Martin left.

Another thought: OKC did not move Kendrick Perkins. Maybe that non-move upset Durant.
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Re: The Official Kevin Durant To Washington Thread 

Post#18 » by Nivek » Tue Aug 6, 2013 8:25 pm

dat: You're partly correct -- challenging shots and lowering opponent shooting percentage is more important than defensive rebounding, but defensive rebounding is still important. The Heat tied for 22nd in defensive rebounding percentage last season, but that's kinda misleading -- their drb% was .730 vs. a league average of .735. They were less than half a standard deviation below average.

Not sure why you're mentioning the Spurs at all -- they were third in defensive rebounding percentage (1.2 standard deviations above average).

If you're looking at correlations with winning (scoring margin), for last season they were:

- offensive efg -- 0.74
- defensive efg -- 0.68
- free throw rate (ftm/fga) -- 0.49
- defensive rebounding percentage -- 0.37
- defensive tov% -- 0.35

If you're looking at correlations with defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions), here's the 4 factors:

- defensive efg -- 0.92
- defensive rebounding percentage -- 0.41
- defensive tov% -- 0.36
- ft rate -- .167

Point being, good defense is first and foremost about making the other guy miss shots. But then you still need to get the rebound.

Edit to add: Looking at your list of teams, I think you might be misremembering something. Each of those teams have de-emphasized OFFENSIVE rebounding, not defensive. It's kinda interesting because offensive rebounding is kinda like steals. At the team level, they're not of major value. At the individual level, they can be very valuable -- a guy who can get steals without disrupting the team defensive concept is a good defender; a guy who can corral offensive rebounds without hurting his team's transition defense is very helpful in making the offense more efficient.
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Re: The Official Kevin Durant To Washington Thread 

Post#19 » by Chocolate City Jordanaire » Tue Aug 6, 2013 8:26 pm

EASY WAY TO GET DURANT: Out Grunfeld. In Troy Weaver.

--If I were recruiting Durant to DC and the Wizards, I would try to get his fiancee on the Mystics.

--I would also try to acquire one of his best friends in trade. Bosh and James joined Wade. (It might be that Durant already respects Wall and Beal. )

--If it would help attract UFA Durant, I would find a spot for Damion James on the roster (University of Texas teammate of Durant http://www.netsdaily.com/2013/1/17/3886 ... rn-to-nets).

KD already tipped his hand. He grew up a Wizards fan. I think he's a realistic target if the Thunder don't do well this playoffs.
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Re: The Official Kevin Durant To Washington Thread 

Post#20 » by Dark Faze » Tue Aug 6, 2013 8:37 pm

Things that need to happen for this to be plausible:

1. Nene isn't extended and expires that summer
2. We don't extend any current players beyond the length of Nenes contract (other than say Wall or Beal)
3. Wall and Beal become All-Star Caliber ( you can argue Wall already is)

On the OKC side:

1. The Thunder don't win a championship

I think all of that has a strong chance of happening. If OKC doesn't chip then what exactly keeps him in OKC?


I think all of these things are plausible. OKC is definitely on a downward trend right now. Hard to say they won't chip before Durant expires, but its not looking good. I'm pretty sure he's gone if he doesn't chip or they don't gain a significant piece before he expires, so the only question is if we have the money available and if we look desirable.

We'll have the money. We can move Porters contract for an expiring or as part of a sign and trade with the Thunder. Or we can just keep him.

You just hope we look good enough over the next few years that he'd want to come.

Potential salary:

Wall: 16
Durant: 20
Beal: 10

that'd be 46 tied up in three players, not as bad as the Heat and around what OKC is at with their core of Ibaka/Westbrook/Durant.

We'd have wiggle room and I think we'd be willing to go over the cap under the right cirucmstnaces.

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