In 2013, neophyte 6-seed Golden State shocked Denver and put a scare into San Antonio in the playoffs.
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The long-awaited decision has been made and now Kevin Durant will join the Golden State Warriors and form a superteam that we haven’t seen before.
“Thats insane! KD in GSW????” That would allow the elite of the elite, the true game-changers, to earn the kind of money they deserve in relation to the rest of the league. The Thunder led the National Basketball Association in blown fourth-quarter leads last season, despite their firepower. Suddenly, because of Curry’s deal and the swollen cap, the Warriors understood they could add a coveted free agent.
A 2016 do-over: “One object before (Warriors and K.D.) in the (over-stacking) of the (roster) was to secure (both Warriors’ and Durant’s) safety in case of another (just-one-win-away-from-championship scenario)”. Detroit center Andre Drummond warned of potential woes, noting: “Everyone is so hyped up on the match up problems on the offensive end?”
The other option they need to consider is trading Westbrook and get as much value as they can for him. Sports leagues are created to funnel prodigiously talented players (like Durant) to bad teams (like the Thunder), and to keep those players on those teams indefinitely once both player and team prosper.
Meanwhile, Durant has his own beloved signature shoe line with Nike Inc.: The KD 1 launched in 2009, and the latest version, the KD 9, was unveiled earlier this year.
While there, he helped lead the Thunder to the Western Conference finals four times and to the NBA Finals in 2012, where they lost to the Heat, another super team formed when LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Dwyane Wade in Miami.
A few years ago, it would be unheard of that a team featuring James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka would be left with just Westbrook. On Tuesday, the Thunder removed Durant’s photo from outside the arena. FiveThirtyEight’s CARMELO player projections expect Durant’s play to fall off just the slightest bit – it’s actually dropped his “category” from “MVP Candidate” to “All-Star”. I say absolutely not. It’s an opportunity these kids have today.
It also beats, “I’m going to take my talents to the less desirable side of the Bay Bridge”. So much planning could have been dashed in a decision Durant made in an instant. Nurkic tweeted. “Superstar not doing that man”.
While Durant has never been too concerned by outside opinions, his decision may also have ramifications on the NBA’s collective bargaining negotiations.
During the last lockout, the owners pushed to make changes to the agreement so that teams, especially those in smaller markets, would have a bigger advantage in retaining players. In 1996, O’Neal signed a seven-year, 0 million contract with the Lakers. They haven’t been back since, and now Durant is off to the Warriors to form the most terrifying basketball team since that high school basketball team recruited a werewolf to play point guard.
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What’s really different is that the quality of free agents that were available, as well as the price to which a lot of teams were more than willing to pay for free agents. And then if you lose, your’e the most criticized team in the league. “Whether that will happen with all this additional cap room this summer is unclear to me”. He returned home in 2014 and led the Cavs to the Finals in his first season.
