The THunder prioritized saving money over building a champion around him. They failed Durant.
Danny Ainge has proven he knows how to build a champion. KD needs to come to Boston. He'll be a legend there and it will give him his best chance at long-term success. They won 48 games with role players. Whereas, the THunder have a losing record in games Durant has sat over the past two years. No-brainer - Boston gives him the best chance at winning.
I was talking about this with a lakers friend of mine actually.
He was saying there are better options than Boston. He listed off Portland, Miami, Atlanta as 3 teams who present better chances of winning than us. He made the point that Portland is only going to get better and have tons of space. Miami and Atlanta both have better players than us, and had the same success that we had in the regular season. If he has better options in terms of players, why would he go to Boston, where all the focus will be on him again, when he can go to teams that have more options and hence less focus on Durant?
(It's what he said, not me btw; I'm curious what you guys think about this).
Portland - too similar to OKC, imo. He'd have to share A TON of his shots with that backcourt, who, by the way, also does not play defense. That's hardly a perfect situation for him. He needs to be THE MAN for the offense with top-notch defenders around him. That's not Portland.
Miami - Too many questions and instability to be considered better than Boston. How long will Wade hold up? What's the deal with Bosh? Will Whiteside resign? Is Whiteside what you really need at the center position? Further, Wade and Dragic are both ball-dominant guards that need the ball in their hands, which also clashes with his style of play.
Atlanta - Age is a factor. Their two main frontcourt pieces are over 30 and playing for major money, and they both have significant injury histories. They've also shown that they simply do not have the team to beat Cleveland losing 12 straight to them, including two playoff series sweeps (even after winning 60 games last year). That's hardly a good situation for them when Cleveland would be the only real opponent in the East, and I don't think Durant gets them over that hump.
Toronto - Again, it's not a great fit: 2 ball-dominant guards, even bigger chokers than OKC in the playoffs, questions about Derozan resigning, questionable frontcourt, etc.
Golden State - Give me a break. It's just not going to happen. Durant would essentially be relegating himself to a top 25 player by giving up and joining the eventual repeat champions.
San Antonio - This team does give me a scare, but they'd have to REALLY do some cap maneuvering to get the space for him. Also, there's serious role and position concerns with Durant joining Kawhi and Leonard, since they're all SF's and PF's.
Boston - Literally the perfect fit for KD. 1) He'd be the unquestioned MAN for the offense with unlimited shot attempts, 2) Cap space for him to bring a friend, 3) Major flexibility for trades, 4) Top 3-5 organization in coaching, management, and ownership, 4) Bright present along with bright future, 5) Perfect role players to surround him with that don't demand the ball to be effective, etc.
Topic: What's your elevator pitch to Durant? (Read 4761 times)