“In most arenas, we had a strong contingent of Warriors fans”.
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Durant might be able to match his coach’s wit, too.
Everyone knew Kevin Durant would get a big contract, they just didn’t know which team would pony up the big bucks. Non-Bird rights limit a team to paying a free agent 120 percent of their salary from the previous year, but it allows them to go over the cap to do so, which would be helpful when it comes to retaining other players or possibly adding others. Other details of the trade are still being worked out, the person told The Associated Press on Monday, July 4, on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn’t been finalized and can’t be official until league business resumes Thursday.
Like Durant will for this decision, James took on a world of criticism for needing to play with top-of-the-line talent in order to actually capture his first National Basketball Association title. The Warriors now only have about $35 million in guaranteed salary for 2017-18, and Durant will be in position to sign a new max deal paying him well north of $30 million per year, so he likely won’t exercise his player option. Durant has a 2nd-year option next summer, where he could test the free agent market yet again.
And if Durant and the Warriors are destined to be considered National Basketball Association supervillains this season and for all seasons they’re together, he seemed fairly reasonable about it. Kendrick Perkins was one of the main contributors in the Boston Celtics when they won a championship in 2008.
“You never expect to get this much better”, general manager Bob Myers said.
It’s not personal, as they say, it’s just business. “So it’s exciting. I think its great for the game”.
Durant even spoke to Hall of Famer Jerry West along the way to help him weigh his choice.
Some of the anger is stoked by relatively recent owner Joe Lacob who, as Deadspin notes, “more or less takes the credit for his team’s success and attributes the Warriors’ historic season to his acumen as a Silicon Valley doofus”.
This probably won’t be the last National Football League player or athlete for that matter that will be interested in joining the Warriors.
“They weren’t, though, you know?”
This, he said, is the harder route – “It was time for me to try something new, try a new challenge”. But I’m gonna continue to live my life, man. I trusted my gut.
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“It made us feel good about our approach, ” Mills said Friday at a news conference to introduce the Knicks’ free agents. And it’s the best decision for me.
