Kevin Durant joining the Warriors this summer may create a superpower rivaling the Celtics dynasty.
Or it could destroy their dynasty, some in the organization are thinking, according to ESPN. Which seems preposterous.
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The Warriors are actually contemplating passing on Oklahoma City's Durant if he makes himself available to them when he becomes a free agent after the season.
"Most of the two-dozen or so team executives I polled over the past two weeks on the Durant-Warriors possibility described it as a no-brainer ("Bench smench," texted one GM), but there is some division within the Warriors, and you can understand why," ESPN's Zach Lowe reported. "They might have the best basketball team ever assembled! How can you shake that up? They are obliterating victims by about 13 points per 100 possessions. Unless the league adds a 4-point shot or lengthens the game, it is almost literally impossible to get any better. And the Warriors have already been proven right choosing continuity over a sweet-shooting shiny object in Kevin Love.
"Signing Durant would carry risk, especially with Festus Ezeli's future unclear after another knee surgery. Signing Durant with cap room would cost Golden State Harrison Barnes, and at least two of Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Andrew Bogut and Ezeli. The Warriors would have to offload two of those guys into someone else's cap space, and they are privately worried they might have to attach one or even two future first-round picks to grease the wheels."
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Comparing Durant, the NBA's MVP in 2014, to Love, a solid player but one that has so fair failed to elevate LeBron James and the Cavaliers to the level of Steph Curry and the Warriors, isn't fair.
ESPN's Lowe also made the comparison of Durant to James Harden's time with the Thunder, but that's also a misguided representation. First of all, Harden still had one year left on his contract in Oklahoma City, and the team sacrificed a potential championship for the future.
And then, the Thunder, who had shown an eye for talent, failed to get any player of significance in return for the Harden trade.
But as perennially great teams know, other free agents will sacrifice money to play for a title contender. Iguodala might be a big loss, but then a Pau Gasol might accept less money and step in.
The one question the Warriors must ask themselves is if Steph or Draymond Green (sorry, Klay Thompson, but the other two are more integral to the Warriors' success) with a season-ending injury, would they still be championship contenders with Durant?
Most of us know the answer. Curry and Durant could play with a junior high team and have a chance. And a Durant-Green-Thompson team still would be a viable threat to the throne, along with the Spurs and wherever LeBron James is playing.
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