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Or does one already exist?

The more I look at it, the more that this is looking like our only option to win a championship in the next five years. No other star is as available/valuable as him and our team is custom-made for him to succeed. We have defense, youth, energy, and a salary cap to bring in big stars.

#whynotDurant2016

Edit 1: We have Butterbeer (Credit to OrlandO)
Edit 2: He quietly wants to join forces with Horford (Credit to Fischella via Zach Lowe)
Edit 3: Hennigan/Thunder connection (Credit to Von Bismarck)

Go fund me. For bribe $$$$$

I'll allow Mr. Durant to star in my action web series!!


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It would be so stupid of him to leave OKC for Orlando. IF he did leave OKC it would be because he feels OKC can't win a championship.. Joining Orlando who doesn't have an all-star let alone a super star would be suicide to his championship aspirations.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/KDTrey5/status/17993768289[/tweet]

Durant loves butterbeer and we have it...
What more is there to do?

Viper1500 wrote:It would be so stupid of him to leave OKC for Orlando. IF he did leave OKC it would be because he feels OKC can't win a championship.. Joining Orlando who doesn't have an all-star let alone a super star would be suicide to his championship aspirations.

I'll take the bait.

After Westbrook and Ibaka, there is a significant dropoff in talent on that team. They don't have the depth, the shooting, or the injury history to last through grueling playoff bouts. They're also in the West.

The Magic have about 7-8 guys guys who are better than OKC's 4th man. We have depth. We have defense. We have role players who hustle. We have athleticism. We do not have a Westbrook type player who dominates the ball and requires low efficiency to be effective. We have a gigantic amount of salary cap space. The roster we see now with Durant is solid. The roster after we add KD and another high-caliber free agent will immediately become the best or second best team in the East. He would be THE MAN and our team would be taken to the highest level because of the attention he requires from opponents.

I respect your argument. That's why it would take some convincing of Durant to get him interested in Orlando in a major way.

Instead of thinking of reasons for Durant not to come to Orlando, I want you to think of reasons why Orlando would be a better place to finish out the prime of his career!

Seriously, I want to see a list!

Lowe said that two powerful sources in the league that dont bull around had said that there is a buzz about Durant wanting to play with Horford and that it could be Orlando's plan.
It seems like 1 in a million chance, but who knows.

Rob was in OKC, perhaps they're in friendly relations.

I guess my question is., why wouldn't KD take a 1+1 deal with OKC and so he can get paid even more next summer?


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Viper1500 wrote:It would be so stupid of him to leave OKC for Orlando. IF he did leave OKC it would be because he feels OKC can't win a championship.. Joining Orlando who doesn't have an all-star let alone a super star would be suicide to his championship aspirations.

I would much rather live in Orlando than Oklahoma City. And there is definitely an incentive in moving to the Eastern Conference where LeBron has had an annual free pass to the NBA Finals.

Fischella wrote:Lowe said that two powerful sources in the league that dont bull around had said that there is a buzz about Durant wanting to play with Horford and that it could be Orlando's plan.
It seems like 1 in a million chance, but who knows.

where did Lowe say/write this? I'd love to read it.

If true, this is the only thing Magic fans will hold on to for the next 5 months.

Zmill wrote:I guess my question is., why wouldn't KD take a 1+1 deal with OKC and so he can get paid even more next summer?


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Why wouldn't he do that with Orlando?

Nyce_1 wrote:

Fischella wrote:Lowe said that two powerful sources in the league that dont bull around had said that there is a buzz about Durant wanting to play with Horford and that it could be Orlando's plan.
It seems like 1 in a million chance, but who knows.

where did Lowe say/write this? I'd love to read it.

If true, this is the only thing Magic fans will hold on to for the next 5 months.

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=14808166

Magic talk starts around the 27:30 mark. Lowe drops that hint a few minutes later.

David Thorpe openly says that Skiles isn't the right coach for this team in this segment too. So it has a little bit of content for everyone.

Brankles wrote:

Zmill wrote:I guess my question is., why wouldn't KD take a 1+1 deal with OKC and so he can get paid even more next summer?


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Why wouldn't he do that with Orlando?

OKC is better for a win-now situation if he was to sign a 1+1 deal

Zmill wrote:

Brankles wrote:

Zmill wrote:I guess my question is., why wouldn't KD take a 1+1 deal with OKC and so he can get paid even more next summer?


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Why wouldn't he do that with Orlando?

OKC is better for a win-now situation if he was to sign a 1+1 deal

If KD signs with another star in Orlando, that might not be a true statement

Brankles wrote:

Zmill wrote:

Brankles wrote:
Why wouldn't he do that with Orlando?

OKC is better for a win-now situation if he was to sign a 1+1 deal

If KD signs with another star in Orlando, that might not be a true statement

Westbrook is waaay better than Horford, Batum, Conley, Barnes, Parsons, etc. Those guys are second/third tier stars at best. Westbrook is a tier 1 superstar.

Zmill wrote:

Brankles wrote:

Zmill wrote:
OKC is better for a win-now situation if he was to sign a 1+1 deal

If KD signs with another star in Orlando, that might not be a true statement

Westbrook is waaay better than Horford, Batum, Conley, Barnes, Parsons, etc. Those guys are second tier stars at best. Westbrook is a tier 1 superstar.

I don't disagree with that about Westbrook. I think you look at the rest of the roster, though, and wonder if that OKC team has the depth to survive any meaningful playoff runs

Rick Rolled wrote:

Nyce_1 wrote:

Fischella wrote:Lowe said that two powerful sources in the league that dont bull around had said that there is a buzz about Durant wanting to play with Horford and that it could be Orlando's plan.
It seems like 1 in a million chance, but who knows.

where did Lowe say/write this? I'd love to read it.

If true, this is the only thing Magic fans will hold on to for the next 5 months.

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=14808166

Magic talk starts around the 27:30 mark. Lowe drops that hint a few minutes later.

David Thorpe openly says that Skiles isn't the right coach for this team in this segment too. So it has a little bit of content for everyone.

Thanks. I was almost to that part as I was already listening.

Wow if true. Guys, I'm strapped in.

Nyce_1 wrote:

Fischella wrote:Lowe said that two powerful sources in the league that dont bull around had said that there is a buzz about Durant wanting to play with Horford and that it could be Orlando's plan.
It seems like 1 in a million chance, but who knows.

where did Lowe say/write this? I'd love to read it.

If true, this is the only thing Magic fans will hold on to for the next 5 months.

It makes sense. It was what I was thinking watching everything unfold this week (not specifically Horford, but that we wanted to pitch Durant on coming here to play with a young core and a second marquee free agent). We specifically made enough space to go after two big contracts this summer.

Tbh, it's probably the best thing we can do. Our roster last week had lots of young talent, but none of that talent is likely every going to be a 1st option on a championship team. But several of them - Vuc, Dipo, Fournier, Hezonja, Elfrid, Gordon - could be outstanding cogs on a contending roster led by a legit superstar. We're at a stage where unless we get exceptionally lucky in the lotto (and are willing to wait another 3-4 years for that lotto talent to become our superstar) we need to shoot for the moon in free agency.

That's not to say that our FO is going to be convince Durant that Orlando is the place he can win, but going to him with a pitch of all that young talent plus the money to pay Al Horford (or another summer free agent he would like to pair with) to come here too is going to be a lot better pitch than the roster we had 7 days ago plus money for only KD himself.

Elf/CJ Watson
Dipo/Fournier
Durant/Hezonja
Horford/Gordon
Vucevic/Horford

With other teams throwing everything they've got into convincing him to join them, that may well not be enough to convince him to come here. But it's not the terrible pitch some people want to make it out to be. He gets to come to the East, away from GSW and the Spurs, and he gets an All-Star big man to pair up with, plus 6 sets of younger legs to do work for him.

Like I've said, very possibly a pitch that comes up short, but I can see the logic behind it both in terms of why Hennigan would make the moves he did this week, and in terms of how he wants to sell free agency to Durant and (maybe) Horford.

What I'd do is go hard after Cousins, Divac loves Hezonja, I love Mario too, but if the price for Cousins is Vucevic, Oladipo, Hezonja and Watson and you can get Cousins, McLemore and Casspi, or something like that, you should.