Durant II - Durant to GSW

[JeepCSC]

Maybe, but I find it to be an incredibly hard sell that Durant doesn't know what he's doing right now. And if you truly don't know yet, how are you supposed to be sure you will know by tomorrow? I think he surely knows one way or the other

Didn't Lebron theoretically schedule the Decision before he even made up his mind? And he of course took the route to publicize it out the wazoo, which led most people anticipating he was staying. I think there is not always rhyme and reason to these things.

[Old Man Game]

It does seem pretty cowardly

I just can't personally remember it happening (though I'm sure someone with more knowledge of the history of the game will correct me). I mean, if you do that you better win it all. The media backlash will be pretty savage if you don't.

I'm kind of surprised after what Lebron went through another player is going to go this route especially a lowkey guy like Durant who would face a lot of backlash and media frenzy on the warriors. For a player who's gotten fairly little criticsm throughout his career, every move on GS would be scrutinized.

That's me too. I think it's safe to say if it has happened, it certainly hasn't happened in the modern era where these athletes face so much additional media scrutiny. Maybe in the 60 and 70s when they were tape delaying games and doing blow during the halftime you could get away with something like this.

[JulesWinnfield]

It's true Lebron never looked comfortable doing the decision, and I've heard rumblings that there was a deal made between he and ESPN that if he did them that solid in giving them that ratings grabber they wouldn't report the Gloria James/Delonte stuff. Never confirmed anywhere and it would be impossible to, but everyone was running with that story outside of the one network that actually had influence. Still don't know if I buy it but it makes sense

[infinite11285]

I think he's leaving OKC. I don't understand having everyone wait if he knew he was staying in OKC. He wants to go to GS, he's just dreading announcing what he wants because he knows it won't be received well by a vast majority of sports fans.

[wco81]

Someone suggested Nike probably wanted him to go through this process because of all the pub he's getting.

[HotRocks34]

If that's the case. Inform the team, they'll inform Woj, he'll tweet, don't write an article and everyone can move on.

You write the article so you can control the story, rather than whatever media writes it controlling the story. This is good for the player, and it's particularly good for the player, I think, if they want to do damage control (if they are leaving their old team).

So instead of "Mr. Unreliable Cowardly Flees OKC To Join 73-Win Team" or something like that potentially showing up in The Oklahoman tomorrow as the possible go-to article on Durant's choice, Durant's article is the defining piece.

So if he leaves, maybe he writes about how gut-wrenching the choice was. How tough it was for him to say goodbye. How much he loves Oklahoma City and the fans. All of that.

I'm very sure Durant and Roc Nation know that if Kevin goes to the Warriors, he is going to take enormous criticism. Huge. So it's better for you to get out in front of the story and the potential damage control rather than letting the media possibly take you apart if you end up leaving OKC.

I'm not saying Durant is gone from OKC, but if he were going to leave then I think it makes a lot of sense for him to announce that via his own article rather than leaving it up to the NBA media (and local media, if you leave) to craft the story.

[nbafan38]

I think he's leaving OKC. I don't understand having everyone wait if he knew he was staying in OKC. He wants to go to GS, he's just dreading announcing what he wants because he knows it won't be received well by a vast majority of sports fans.

maybe but if thats the case wouldn't announcing it all low key be better for damage control than making it into some whole big anticipated decision.

[HotRocks34]

Someone suggested Nike probably wanted him to go through this process because of all the pub he's getting.

If you make the decision immediately after just meeting again with OKC, and the decision is to leave, it could easily look like you don't care (about OKC) and your mind was made up already.

Taking the rest of tonight as a kind of "grace period" is a smart PR decision by Durant, in my opinion. Particularly if he's going to leave OKC. Now it looks like he's really thinking about things deeply (which he may well be doing) rather than just blowing off OKC if he leaves.

There's millions of dollars at stake in all of this. And a lot of it is dependent on the asset (the player) remaining popular and likeable.

If this is done wrong -- like "The Decision" was -- then that can cost an athlete and his associated brands a lot of goodwill with the public.

[Benedict_Boozer]

I'm kind of surprised after what Lebron went through another player is going to go this route especially a lowkey guy like Durant who would face a lot of backlash and media frenzy on the warriors. For a player who's gotten fairly little criticsm throughout his career, every move on GS would be scrutinized.

The thing is, right now Durant really isn't even scrutinized because no one cares. He might be thinking to himself at least now he would be in the limelight and if he succeeded would be known as a cog on one of the greatest teams of all time.

Put another way right now he is an afterthought in the Lebron era long term. If he goes to GS and racks up rings at least he could get out of that shadow.

This assumes he is the alpha. If he is beta to Curry then this move is a big mistake any way you slice it legacy wise.


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[NyCeEvO]

If that's the case. Inform the team, they'll inform Woj, he'll tweet, don't write an article and everyone can move on.

You write the article so you can control the story, rather than whatever media writes it controlling the story. This is good for the player, and it's particularly good for the player, I think, if they want to do damage control (if they are leaving their old team).

So instead of "Mr Unreliable Cowardly Flees OKC To Join 73-Win Team" or something like that potentially showing up in The Oklahoman tomorrow as the possible go-to article on Durant's choice, Durant's article is the defining piece.

So if he leaves, maybe he writes about how gut-wrenching the choice was. How tough it was for him to say goodbye. How much he loves Oklahoma City and the fans. All of that.

I'm very sure Durant and Roc Nation know that if Kevin goes to the Warriors, he is going to take enormous criticism. Huge. So it's better for you to get out in front of the story and the potential damage control rather than letting the media possibly take you apart if you end up leaving OKC.

I'm not saying Durant is gone from OKC, but if he were going to leave then I think it makes a lot of sense for him to announce that via his own article rather than leaving it up to the NBA media (and local media, if you leave) to craft the story.

I agree with all of this but I highly doubt that anyone would change their minds on how they felt about him joining the Warriors by reading his letter. It seems that everyone, including fans of teams who aren't in the running, has a preference. There's no softening this potential blow.

[Soupman]

He's going to the Celtics,Spurs or Clippers.

He's not going back to the Thunder.

[nbafan38]

If Durant really has his mind made uplike some on her suggest wouldnt it have been much classier to have just told OKC in the final meeting today he was leaving than to announce it in some letter tomorrow.

[HotRocks34]

I agree with all of this but I highly doubt that anyone would change their minds on how they felt about him joining the Warriors by reading his letter. It seems that everyone, including fans of teams who aren't in the running, has a preference. There's no softening this potential blow.

Probably true, but it's better to cover your bases than not cover them. And there are probably some casual fans who maybe stumble across the Durant article and feel better about him because of it rather than feeling more negative if they had just read some random piece ripping him for leaving.

For hard core fans, it won't make any difference what Durant says in his article. But maybe some casuals will be swayed.

[Michael Lucky]

It really shouldn't be a hard decision to make. You go to the team that gives you the best chance of getting a title. Besides the narrative on LeBron sure changed fast after he finally won.

[Axl Rose]

he'll re-sign with the thunder and the article will talk about how his heart never wavered and he loves the city. may go into detail about the move from Seattle and how OKC made him feel at home right away and helped him grow into the man he is today

[bakesale]

You know how politicians do news dumps sometimes on a Friday night to lessen the attention on something that would otherwise be seen as disadvantageous to them if announced during a time in the news cycle where more attention is paid? Well it's not like Durant can just slide this by people unnoticed, but announcing on the 4th makes me think he's leaving even more. If you make the unpopular move, it makes more sense to do it when attention is focused more elsewhere. Of course in a 21st century media landscape the news cycle is pretty much always on, but there is still something to be gained from making the unpopular announcement tomorrow if you're going to do it

This is 100% what I'm feeling now.

I think he's gone, and I think his agents want to bury the story on the 4th.

That's my gut feeling. This is a tried-and-true tactic.

The other choice is KD wants to soak in the OKC love by announcing it on the 4th, making it a great holiday for Oklahomans, but my guess is he's gone and they want to bury the story on the holiday.

I do not envy OKC fans now. This is tough, that it's being done like this.

There's no way he's leaving Russ.

OKC has already made some great moves this off season.

Durant doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who would want to join the team he just lost to. He seems like the kind of guy who would want to have the chance at beating that team then beat Lebron on his own merit.

I hear what you are saying about the drawn out thing but I think in this case I see it more as him just doing his due diligence. This is all just a formality. The fact that he gave his current team 2 chances to win him over all over again shows favouritism on his behalf. He didn't have to do it but chose to do it anyway. That tells me his heart lies in OKC.

If I had to put money on it I'd say for sure he's staying.

[TeamTragic]

Not sure why people are still mentioning the Spurs, and how they could even make it work financially with Timmy and Manu returning. That is an old roster.

They still have Aldridge ad Kiwi..

[TeamTragic]

Durant to Golden State. You heard it here first.

[HotRocks34]

There's no way he's leaving Russ.

OKC has already made some great moves this off season.

Durant doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who would want to join the team he just lost to. He seems like the kind of guy who would want to have the chance at beating that team then beat Lebron on his own merit.

I hear what you are saying about the drawn out thing but I think in this case I see it more as him just doing his due diligence. This is all just a formality. The fact that he gave his current team 2 chances to win him over all over again shows favouritism on his behalf. He didn't have to do it but chose to do it anyway. That tells me his heart lies in OKC.

If I had to put money on it I'd say for sure he's staying.

I honestly have no idea what he will do. My gut says he's gone, just from how this is being done and the various people saying stuff (like NBA Betting Guy on Twitter; supposedly Jay Z wants him with Golden State; etc), but I have no clue.

We'll find out soon.

[JeepCSC]

Someone suggested Nike probably wanted him to go through this process because of all the pub he's getting.

I could buy that. Nothing about this yet makes me think he is leaving. I wouldn't be surprised, but this screams 1-year deal and then we do it again next year.