Durant, Clippers have "mutual interest"

[Quake Griffin]

I still disagree that LeBrons decision to leave was wrong. Lol but lets not go there.

I do think that KDs choice is actually worse from a certain perspective.

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There was nothing wrong with LeBron's decision to leave. He had **** for ownership and a front office and he went and teamed up with his friends. He was chasing Kobe and Michael, not Wade. The LBJ hate train started when Nike confiscated that tape the previous offseason. The Decision was just a pretext for everybody to pour it on.

Katherine Durant went to a team that beat him in heart breaking fashion when he already had another NBA Super Star on his team. He is a lame. A fraud. A front runner. He hides his trUe character by "being quiet" and not saying much to the media. Now we all see him for who he really Is.

**** him (as a basketball player).
I hope he wins nothing there and retires ringless.

[Neddy]

I still disagree that LeBrons decision to leave was wrong. Lol but lets not go there.

I do think that KDs choice is actually worse from a certain perspective.

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I didn't say that was the wrong decision for Lebron, I said that how he handled it through media was the wrong way to go about.

and I surely did not say this was the right decision for Durant, , I said it was the right way to go about, keeping things respectful to your old club and even calling the president of your old team in person to let them know you are not coming back, was just a classy move.

[Neddy]

I still disagree that LeBrons decision to leave was wrong. Lol but lets not go there.

I do think that KDs choice is actually worse from a certain perspective.

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

There was nothing wrong with LeBron's decision to leave. He had **** for ownership and a front office and he went and teamed up with his friends. He was chasing Kobe and Michael, not Wade. The LBJ hate train started when Nike confiscated that tape the previous offseason. The Decision was just a pretext for everybody to pour it on.

Katherine Durant went to a team that beat him in heart breaking fashion when he already had another NBA Super Star on his team. He is a lame. A fraud. A front runner. He hides his trUe character by "being quiet" and not saying much to the media. Now we all see him for who he really Is.

**** him (as a basketball player).
I hope he wins nothing there and retires ringless.

I don't hate the guy (yet) and I surely do not wish death or anytihng like that to people for being sports figures, but I do wish for their team bus driver to drive them off a cliff (a small, non, lethal one) and injure their key players for just about the duration of next season with their full recovery by next year.

[Don Tommy]

I really thought that our pitch was "Kevin, resign with OKC for a 1+1, then next year we'll form a super team." I never thought we really had a chance to get him this year. It made no sense for him, and with all these crazy contracts you couldn't ask him to take that big of a discount.

But I can see him going with the Warriors. Anytime you have Jerry West on your side, magic will happen. I would have to say he is the perfect representative of the logo for the NBA as he is the most successful person that's ever been associated with the league. Who else has been so good at playing the game as well as being an exec? Maybe Larry Bird?

As for Durant. remember when Iggy and the Nuggets played the Warriors in the playoffs, it's been rumored that they started their courtship of him then, so when the Thunder advanced to play the Warriors this year, part of me worried that this was happening again. But they play a fun style, they have a championship pedigree now, and they are about to move into a brand new arena in a much better part of the Bay Area. Like others have said, can we really feel sorry for the owners of the Thunder considering what they did to Seattle?

I know we are supposed to hate the Warriors but I loved them during the Run TMC days. (Old time Clipper fans know you had to have a second team when you were only winning 12 games a year) Besides D Green, they have a pretty likable team, and every successful team has one of those guys every other fan base hates.

Wrapping it up, here is something that may give us hope. We complain about Ballmer and Doc, but remember that the Warrior fans actually booed their owner during Chris Mullin's number retirement. Look, Ballmer is still excited about owning the team. Once the novelty of owning a team wears off, I fully expect him to learn from the Dodgers' ownership group. Look at all the front office talent they have up there. We won't get Jerry West, but why not push for Sam Presti? Hell, I'd even go for Sam Hinkie over Doc!

[QRich3]

As for Durant. remember when Iggy and the Nuggets played the Warriors in the playoffs, it's been rumored that they started their courtship of him then, so when the Thunder advanced to play the Warriors this year, part of me worried that this was happening again.

Yeah that crap makes me sick, and they're repeating offenders. You're supposed to be out there competing and you're just greasing one of your rivals to come join you. And the two snakes that let themselves get beaten and then join their opponent, they just let their actions speak for themselves.

I'd love to agree with you about Ballmer Tommy, but he just doesn't seem the type to actively change anything. Hoping he'll suddenly get it and start making great hires seems like too much to wish for.

Sorry I couldn't resist, just kidding. I just don't want him in GSW.

Sorry for you man, you're welcome to come hate on them round these parts anytime

[Ranma]

Ryan Timmerman, LastWordOnSports.com (7/11/16)

The order in which the meetings took place is noteworthy, especially regarding where the Clippers fell in the order. Oklahoma City and Golden State met Durant before Los Angeles. By several accounts, Durant was “blown away” by the presentation given by the Clippers. Follow this out, and it’s not hard to imagine a scenario where – if the Clippers’ presentation was so persuasive – that what the Spurs, Celtics, and Heat were selling paled in comparison. As a result, the field immediately narrowed down to Oklahoma City, Golden State, and Los Angeles.
...

By his own admission, Kevin Durant did not enjoy the process of being a free agent. He did not like being the subject of ’round-the-clock coverage. He wanted to get it over with. Which would lead one to believe he didn’t want to wait around for the Clippers to make room for him. Thus, I submit the idea that if Durant was so “blown away” by L.A.’s vision that it was just the matter of substituting Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green in for Paul, Griffin, and Jordan. Along with the relative ease of joining the Warriors compared to the Clippers, it become the preferred destination.

Do the dots to this theory connect? Kind of. Does it really matter? No, not really. But it is fun entertaining the idea that the Clippers – the team that has been mocked for its incompetence for much its existence – inadvertently changed NBA history. By giving such a great pitch to Kevin Durant, L.A. convinced him Golden State is where he should go. This theory turns the Clippers into the court jester of a Shakespearean comedy, which is really pretty fitting. If this crazy idea holds any merit, wouldn’t it be the Clipper-est thing ever?

The Los Angeles Clippers (Maybe) Helped the Golden State Warriors Get Kevin Durant

[Ranma]

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[Neddy]

glad to see after all that fiasco last season, that DJ is repping our franchise.

[Ranma]

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[Ranma]

Doc's explanation below doesn't mention that we were also apparently behind the Celtics because they have a better coach in Brad Stevens and GM in Danny Ainge despite having significantly less talent. It's possible that the Thunder were in Durant's top 2, but I think it's fair and safe to say that as soon as he was seriously open about leaving after seeing what the suitors offered, OKC was out of the running. So Doc leaves the Celtics only for them to not only make more progress since his departure but also become more appealing to free-agent Kevin Durant. Yeah, that just about says it all, doesn't it?


RealGM Wiretap (7/28/16)

"We asked a simple question. We sat around trying to figure out what's the right question. And the first question we asked is 'are we in the top-3?' and they said 'yes'," said Rivers. "That made us feel good. We talked about it. My next question is 'are we in the top-2?' We made the decision, if they say 'no' then we go. If they say 'yes' we stay. They said 'no'."
...

"I thought he liked us a lot," said Rivers. "He told us since and so have his representatives. The presentation I did and Lawrence (Frank) and Steve (Ballmer) is good or maybe the best presentation. But when they kept looking at how we were going to do it. We had to actually ask each guy to take a hit financially. We needed Kevin to take a hit this year to fit and next year we would have needed Blake (Griffin) and Chris (Paul) to take a hit financially. He didn't have to do that if he stayed in Oklahoma. He didn't have to do that if he went to Golden State. Plus they had room to build around that. I think at the end of the day, they looked at is as far as roster wise, well, 'the Clippers look great, we love who they are but financially they are going to be so strapped, it's going to be so hard to work, I think we're going to go the safer place,' and that was Golden State."

Clippers Were Told They Were in Top-3 On Kevin Durant

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[og15]

Why were we behind the Celtics? I don't think the lack of complimentary star power on the Celtics was as appealing to Durant.