Kevin Durant Free Agency Thread

[Mikey1690]

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GSW was and still is, IMO, the only logical choice if he's going to leave. He has a better team in OKC than he would in Boston. He's beloved in OKC like he'd never be in Boston.

You've never been to Boston, have you? The athletes in the town are the most beloved figures around. Big Papi and Brady are regarded as national treasures essentially. The fan base can pretty much tell you every player from every title team. That's probably the most asinine statement in this thread.

Actually I have. And I never said he wouldn't be loved in Boston. I said he'd never be as loved as he was in OKC and he won't. OKC has had him for his entire career sans 1 year and have grown attached to him more than any other team in the league. Just like LeBron wasn't anywhere near as loved in Miami as he was in Cleveland, Durant won't anywhere near as loved in Boston as he was in OKC.

I never said he wouldn't still be loved though because obviously he would be.

[therealbig3]

I don't usually buy into all this legacy talk...but going to GS would absolutely be a pretty big blow to his general perception by the fans. Yeah, he'll win titles...but everyone knows he's going to a team that won a title and 73 games before he even got there...and they were considered failures because they lost in 7 games in the Finals. They're already a dominant, championship-level team. How impressive is him going there and winning titles?

LeBron joined up with two other stars, yes, but there were questions about fit, and we hadn't seen that core play together before. Miami was a completely different team after adding LeBron and Bosh.

This would basically be GS + Durant, and we know how awesome GS already is. They're historically good as is, and could win titles without Durant.

[JulesWinnfield]

He has spent a couple months blasting the media and then he smarted up and stopped doing it. Whatever it is you have against him really can't be solely because of that.

It'd make way more sense to actually hate on him for joining GSW instead of just for that but maybe that's just me.

A couple of months? You need to pay closer attention. First off he has always had an icey relationship with their local media outside of Royce young. He had the ridiculous blowup at allstar weekend with the national media a couple years back which was just childish and he was forced to apologize for with his wannabe tough guy act. He blasted the media this year for treatment of Kobe of all people. He whined about the mr unreliable headline a couple years back which may have been the first ever negative word uttered about him, and the paper actually apologized to him for it (that's how sweet he has had it). Durant has a running track record of constantly blasting the media that has gone out of their way to not blast him

And I don't hate KD. I think he is massively thin skinned though, and if he lived in Lebron or kobe's world he might have to be committed to an instititution to deal based on how he reacts to the little he gets

The whole Thunder organization has basically no relationship with the local media. That's just their culture. There's no one in OKC who has any credible sources inside the organization. Royce Young is easily the most well liked reporter in the organization and he never even gets half a scoop as a reward. Nothing to do with KD.

Next on he didn't even whine about the mr unreliable headline. That's just your fabrications. Here's an actual quote from him about the headline

"I'm unreliable? Me, Mr. Unreliable?" Durant said Thursday morning. "As a competitor there's going to be good and bad days. They're going to build you up, they're going to break you down. You just have to stay even keeled, and that's what I am. It's all about what have you done for me lately, and I understand that."

And the dumb blowup at ASW was last year and then he apologised for it. Then he went back and blasted the media again for criticizing Kobe later that year. Like I said, a couple months. That's really all there is to it as far as him lashing out against the media. Unless you wanna count him blasting Skip for ripping his teammate.

Really, this is it. Surely there's been a couple of stupid clashes but for some reason you're either blowing them way out of proportion or just straight up making stuff up and pinning it on him. I don't know you and you have all the right to hate whoever you want but your reasoning for this is just flimsy.

You're throwing the hate word around again and I will once again state if you couldn't read it the first few times that I don't hate KD. My criticism is merely that he is thin skinned, I don't find that debatable. Secondly you need to learn how to read a calendar if you think his blowup at 2015 all star weekend and his blowup about Kobe this year were just a "couple months" apart. Thirdly I've heard him interviewed about the mr unreliable headline and he has said more on that than just your provided quote. Fourthly I'm not sitting here keeping a running tab about every time KD has said something with regards to the media, I'm merely providing a few examples I remember. I'm positive there is more. I think you're taking after thin skinned KD and being a bit thin skinned yourself about a criticism that is more than fair and pretty indisputable. Which is that he has a lot to say for a guy who has had it pretty easy

And for the 11th time I don't hate him

[killacalijatt]

Question would still remain who takes Bogut??? Even if KD agrees to the Dubs

[chrisab123]

GSW was and still is, IMO, the only logical choice if he's going to leave. He has a better team in OKC than he would in Boston. He's beloved in OKC like he'd never be in Boston.

You've never been to Boston, have you? The athletes in the town are the most beloved figures around. Big Papi and Brady are regarded as national treasures essentially. The fan base can pretty much tell you every player from every title team. That's probably the most asinine statement in this thread.

Actually I have. And I never said he wouldn't be loved in Boston. I said he'd never be as loved as he was in OKC and he won't. OKC has had him for the majority of his career and have grown attached to him more than any other team in the league. Just like LeBron wasn't anywhere near as loved in Miami as he was in Cleveland, Durant won't anywhere near as loved in Boston as he was in OKC.

I never said he wouldn't still be loved though because obviously he would be.

He started his career in Seattle. LeBron was from Akron. No comparison.

[NeoWarriors]

Question would still remain who takes Bogut??? Even if KD agrees to the Dubs

He can join HB in Dallas.

[Dmavs12]

I hope this goes down like a miss USA pageant.
3rd runner up is...

[Mikey1690]

You've never been to Boston, have you? The athletes in the town are the most beloved figures around. Big Papi and Brady are regarded as national treasures essentially. The fan base can pretty much tell you every player from every title team. That's probably the most asinine statement in this thread.

Actually I have. And I never said he wouldn't be loved in Boston. I said he'd never be as loved as he was in OKC and he won't. OKC has had him for the majority of his career and have grown attached to him more than any other team in the league. Just like LeBron wasn't anywhere near as loved in Miami as he was in Cleveland, Durant won't anywhere near as loved in Boston as he was in OKC.

I never said he wouldn't still be loved though because obviously he would be.

He started his career in Seattle. LeBron was from Akron. No comparison.

1 year in Seattle compared to 8 in OKC. Not even remotely comparable.

[chrisab123]

I don't usually buy into all this legacy talk...but going to GS would absolutely be a pretty big blow to his general perception by the fans. Yeah, he'll win titles...but everyone knows he's going to a team that won a title and 73 games before he even got there. How much impact is he really going to have for them?

He'd be the Kevin Love on the Dubs. They can win it without KD. Would never be regarded as a top 10 player.

[Litany]

I don't usually buy into all this legacy talk...but going to GS would absolutely be a pretty big blow to his general perception by the fans. Yeah, he'll win titles...but everyone knows he's going to a team that won a title and 73 games before he even got there. How much impact is he really going to have for them?

He'd be the Kevin Love on the Dubs. They can win it without KD. Would never be regarded as a top 10 player.

And if he goes to the Warriors and wins a ring and wins Finals MVP, all would be forgotten and he'd be seen as a top talent.

As others have mentioned if he's going to jump ship nows the time to do it. If the Warriors had just won a 2nd title, would be harder to sell. Now he can sell it as going there to help beat the Cavs and win a ring.

[Mikey1690]

I don't usually buy into all this legacy talk...but going to GS would absolutely be a pretty big blow to his general perception by the fans. Yeah, he'll win titles...but everyone knows he's going to a team that won a title and 73 games before he even got there. How much impact is he really going to have for them?

He'd be the Kevin Love on the Dubs. They can win it without KD. Would never be regarded as a top 10 player.

And if he goes to the Warriors and wins a ring and wins Finals MVP, all would be forgotten and he'd be seen as a top talent.

As others have mentioned if he's going to jump ship nows the time to do it. If the Warriors had just won a 2nd title, would be harder to sell. Now he can sell it as going there to help beat the Cavs and win a ring.

That's still hard to sell considering the Warriors were up 3-1 and 20 seconds away from making it back-to-back championships. It's not like the Cavs were a juggernaut that the Warriors couldn't stand up to so I don't see how you could try and sell it that way.

[fa2011]

[gfycat]http://cjzero.com/gifs/YawningBillRussell.gif[/gfycat]


Sorry. Don't know how to insert GIFs yet

[fa2011]

http://cjzero.com/gifs/YawningBillRussell.gif

[Birdie]

I don't usually buy into all this legacy talk...but going to GS would absolutely be a pretty big blow to his general perception by the fans. Yeah, he'll win titles...but everyone knows he's going to a team that won a title and 73 games before he even got there. How much impact is he really going to have for them?

He'd be the Kevin Love on the Dubs. They can win it without KD. Would never be regarded as a top 10 player.

And if he goes to the Warriors and wins a ring and wins Finals MVP, all would be forgotten and he'd be seen as a top talent.

As others have mentioned if he's going to jump ship nows the time to do it. If the Warriors had just won a 2nd title, would be harder to sell. Now he can sell it as going there to help beat the Cavs and win a ring.

If KD goes to Dubs, he's def. not the KLove of the Dubs. If anything, I could see something sort of;

Curry: 29-32mpg 22-25PPG
KD: 32-34mpg 23-27PPG
Klay: 30-33mpg 16-19PPG
Draymond: 32-35mpg 11-15PPG

If anything, the scoring load would balance out across the board. And another thing, they'd most likely shatter every 3pt record 2x over and most likely be ranked 30th in points in the paint as you'd have an all-time great jump shooting lineup.

But let's not forget, it's 2 ankles (Steph) and foot (KD) tapped together from being completely obliterated and turned into cap albatross.

[whysoserious]

I don't usually buy into all this legacy talk...but going to GS would absolutely be a pretty big blow to his general perception by the fans. Yeah, he'll win titles...but everyone knows he's going to a team that won a title and 73 games before he even got there. How much impact is he really going to have for them?

He'd be the Kevin Love on the Dubs. They can win it without KD. Would never be regarded as a top 10 player.

Not really, people are blowing this out of proportion. Yes, people will question him joining an already good team but he's still one of the best in the game right now and he can go to the Celtics, Wizards, Spurs and never win and that would bring on criticism too.

He's got to make whatever choice he can live with and if chooses the Warriors, we get to see a historically good team go to another level.

[basketballRob]

Wonder if Durant will have a pay per view, decision 2016?

[therealbig3]

LOL, nobody would ever see it as Durant helping the Warriors "get over the hump", because that's just not the case. They JUST set the record for most RS wins, they're only considered failures because they didn't follow it up with a title...going 7 games in the NBA Finals, in a series that you were up 3-1, one year after already winning a title, doesn't sound like a team that needs to add anybody.

Signing Durant helps Durant more than it helps the Warriors. Even then, I don't see how anybody could really be all that impressed by Durant winning titles in GS. They're a 60-70 win team and a contender for the title without him.

[chrisab123]

He'd be the Kevin Love on the Dubs. They can win it without KD. Would never be regarded as a top 10 player.

And if he goes to the Warriors and wins a ring and wins Finals MVP, all would be forgotten and he'd be seen as a top talent.

As others have mentioned if he's going to jump ship nows the time to do it. If the Warriors had just won a 2nd title, would be harder to sell. Now he can sell it as going there to help beat the Cavs and win a ring.

If KD goes to Dubs, he's def. not the KLove of the Dubs. If anything, I could see something sort of;

Curry: 29-32mpg 22-25PPG
KD: 32-34mpg 23-27PPG
Klay: 30-33mpg 16-19PPG
Draymond: 32-35mpg 11-15PPG

If anything, the scoring load would balance out across the board. And another thing, they'd most likely shatter every 3pt record 2x over and most likely be ranked 30th in points in the paint as you'd have an all-time great jump shooting lineup.

But let's not forget, it's 2 ankles (Steph) and foot (KD) tapped together from being completely obliterated and turned into cap albatross.

The KLove of the dubs comment wasn't necessarily speaking about production. Put it this way. Would the Cavs win without Love? Yes. Can the Warriors win without Durant? Absolutely. Neither team can win without any of the other 4 out of their big 3s. Klay is needed just as much as Steph. Same with Irivng and LeBron. Durant is just there...same with Love. He won't be under any pressure to be the man. Because he's going to be in the shadow of Curry and to a lesser extent Klay because both have won before.

[INKtastic]

I don't usually buy into all this legacy talk...but going to GS would absolutely be a pretty big blow to his general perception by the fans. Yeah, he'll win titles...but everyone knows he's going to a team that won a title and 73 games before he even got there. How much impact is he really going to have for them?

He'd be the Kevin Love on the Dubs. They can win it without KD. Would never be regarded as a top 10 player.

He'd be the Warriors best player

[chrisab123]

I don't usually buy into all this legacy talk...but going to GS would absolutely be a pretty big blow to his general perception by the fans. Yeah, he'll win titles...but everyone knows he's going to a team that won a title and 73 games before he even got there. How much impact is he really going to have for them?

He'd be the Kevin Love on the Dubs. They can win it without KD. Would never be regarded as a top 10 player.

He'd be the Warriors best player

Curry is/would be better.