
Utah JazzĬlippers beat Suns in playoff rematch of short-handed squadsĬlippers’ Serge Ibaka is healthy, but playing time wanesĪnd Durant, remember, raved about several members of the Clippers this past season, including their then-rookie backcourt of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Landry Shamet.īut, according to reports, the Nets’ offer and the chance for Durant to play alongside his friend Irving proved most enticing. Short-handed Clippers no match for surging JazzĬlippers prospect Gary Chivichyan making historyĬlippers take business-like approach into game vs.
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The Clippers’ pitch also will include people that Durant is known to admire, including Jerry West, whose 2016 call to Durant is said to have helped persuade him to join the Warriors, and owner Steve Ballmer, who appeared on the second episode of “The Boardroom with Kevin Durant,” an ESPN series that debuted in February.įurthermore, Durant’s familiarity with the Clippers organization extends to general manager Michael Winger and assistant coach Rex Kalamian, whose tenures in Oklahoma City overlapped with Durant’s. Reports were that the Warriors were set to offer Kevin Durant a five-year, $221 max contract, $57 million more than any of his other suitors, and Stephen Curry was going to help deliver the pitch. Not that the New York Knicks, Warriors and Clippers wouldn’t join the Nets in making their best cases. Of course, even with the cap space, Windhorst equated pulling off the feat to “pulling the sword from the stone.”ĭurant, a 30-year-old forward who won two titles with Golden State, went on the record earlier this month to make it clear that he would make his decision independent of any of his peers intentions: “I can’t be recruited.” Regardless, the Nets front office needs to have a strategy.Kevin Durant reportedly will join Nets, not Clippers, who will wait to hear from Kawhi Leonard – Orange County Register Close Menu Assuming other teams are willing to give him a max contract, the Nets should be willing to match this.ĭespite the rumors, the odds are probably against Durant signing with the Nets. When he’s right, or even close to right, he’s one of the best players in the world. But unless the Nets can get both Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving to fill their two max slots (which is very unlikely), it’s hard to justify not signing Durant if he’s interested. To reiterate, the possibility of Durant missing next season is definitely suboptimal, and it’s uncertain exactly what type of player he will be when he returns. But if he does want to leave, should the Nets remain as interested as they’ve ever been? If Durant accepts the player option, Brooklyn will have to put its pursuit of him on hold (at least for one season). Some players are never the same after these injuries, but there’s still hope he can be near the same player he has been. Some teams, however, including the Nets, might be willing to do it for a talent like Durant. Signing a player that could miss an entire season is definitely a risk, especially if it’s a max deal.
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The counterpoint to this, however, is that Durant might be able to make a comparable amount of money in free agency. Injuries can derail careers, so he might just want to maximize his earnings while he can. Second, after suffering an injury, Durant might want to snatch up the $31.5 million on the table if the max offers don’t come rolling in. Recovering from an injury with a brand new training staff may be less than ideal. First, if he can’t play next season anyway, he might prefer to stay with a training staff he presumably has gotten comfortable with. There are two main reasons he might choose this path.

How much, if at all, could the injury change things?Īll the chatter has suggested Durant will leave Golden State in free agency, but perhaps now he will accept his $31.5 million player option and stay with the Warriors one more season.

Nets fans have specifically dreamt about a Durant-Irving pairing, as there have been some rumors that this could be in play. If it was indeed a tear as many have speculated, Durant could be out for all of next season.įor some time now, it’s been assumed that Kevin Durant would headline this summer’s free agency class alongside the likes of Kyrie Irving and Kawhi Leonard.

In his first game back from a calf issue that sidelined him for a month, Golden State Warriors superstar Kevin Durant suffered a potentially serious Achilles injury. The Brooklyn Nets may have to reassess their free agency plans. With Kevin Durant potentially suffering a serious injury, should he still be a target this summer? The Brooklyn Nets have the cap space to sign two max free agents. By Jacob Zinkula 2 years ago Follow Tweet
