Ranma wrote:MartinToVaught wrote:There's a difference between being there in the room making a face-to-face pitch and making a half-assed phone call. IMO, if CP3 was anywhere near as hungry for a ring as he'd like everyone to think he is, he'd have scheduled his vacation for later in the summer and joined Blake and DJ at the Durant meeting.
As was mentioned before, Paul was already aware of Durant's intentions and feelings during his free agency. With Doc in charge at the time and the friction between Paul and Griffin & Jordan, Durant didn't want to be a part of that situation and Paul certainly didn't want to advocate for that mess.
Based on the the rumblings and what transpired, Griffin and Paul were not coming back together for another run together and, lest you forget, Paul was apparently the Clippers' first choice and only went hard after Griffin after Paul bailed.
Also, notice how Paul was the one recruited by another elite player while Griffin was taking meetings with the Suns before the Clippers came calling.
I'm not exactly happy with how Paul left the organization, but he did allow for us to trade for the depth we've been lacking through his departure. A case can be made that Ballmer's indulgence and lack of urgency prior to this off-season along with Doc's horrendous track record caused Paul to lose faith in the organization, which prompted his desire to depart even to the point of leaving big money on the table.
I don't think this was the case, don't think I heard anything suggesting that one or the other was the priority and the other was secondary. The only guy that was being forgotten was Redick as the team definitely had moved on from him as soon as game 7 ended. Ballmer's honest interview didn't infer or suggest, he clearly said they wanted both and were willing to pay the money for both, as well as take on the implications of paying Paul big money in his mid-late 30's. Doc also said they had already pitched to Griffin before Paul left, and talked to him about with or without Paul, and he had agreed to re-sign either way.
Now, I don't think Jerry West was happy Paul left, there were mixed reports coming out after as everyone was making their own story up as to what happened, but with Ballmer's interview, and with West going out of his way to always say Paul is one of his favorite players, it was likely that building a team with him was also part of his draw here. We saw it
again in a recent West interview from a couple of weeks ago, you get the sense that he was not happy that they were unable to retain Paul, but was happy they got good value back for the circumstances.
Durant actually said his whole draw to the Clippers was playing with Paul/Griffin/DJ. He said that he and DJ were close, which we know, said that he had known Paul since high school, and he had gotten to know Griffin over the years, which makes sense if him and DJ are close, but also with like All-Star games and all that.
"Blake , D.J. and C.P -- that's what made it interesting," Durant said, via the San Jose Mercury News' Anthony Slater. "Those three guys are tremendous, unbelievable talents. They made it tough on me. They made it tough. Just knowing those guys. Like I said, D.J. is a close friend. C.P., I've been knowing him since I was in high school. I got to know Blake over the years. All that other stuff -- I've been in L.A. every summer. Facilities, all that stuff is the same to me. As long as you have a court and the ball. And Jamal Crawford has been a close friend of mine since I've been in the league, so the players, that's what made it tough. They did a great job."
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/wait-kevin-durant-was-seriously-considering-clippers-in-free-agency/
He didn't choose the Clippers because in terms of the finances, and the roster, GS was the easiest and most direct path for him to get what he wanted.
