Thunder: KD- Bailing or staying?

[DPG21920]

It was not obvious. The logic you're using applies to all East teams more so than WAS. Your main initial statement was a shot at Durant and mostly about wall. You really went into detail about wall. The rest was fluff that outside of Brooks applies to all teams.

Any team in the East would get KD away from the West. Any team would be the 2nd best team by adding KD. Most every team has a Wall quality player already to "take heat" from KD & he's going to paid like the man anywhere he goes.

There is a ton better fits & when you really look at what you wrote you propping up Wall as someone who can save KD is the only thing (besides Brooks) that matters or is different from any team in the East.

[DPG21920]

And the overall point is again: KD only leaves if a team offers him a legit shot to win a le over OKC.

Wash, who cant even make the playoffs in the East, is no way a better shot to win than OKC that even in the West was on the cusp of the finals.

Even if he goes east he still has to beat Lebron just to get to the finals & no doubt that OKC is better than was with KD.

[DPG21920]

Also, also: I'm not saying that the Brooks/Home things don't matter I'm just disagreeing with the outcome if he chooses WAS and that Wall is any selling point

[DPG21920]

at DG being "way better than" Roberson
at LMA's "defense"
at LMA better than Adams overall. Adams defense = LMA's offense
at LMA (PF) KD (SF) KL (SG ) DG (PG ) lineup
at whoever Spurs plays at center vs Adams
at DPG begging for KD like he Keith Sweat

This might be the dumbest post all playoffs from you . Congrats!

[LkrFan]

This might be the dumbest post all playoffs from you . Congrats!

Translation: anyone who disagrees with me is dumb.

Don't get short with me DPG. It's unbecoming.

[LkrFan]

Man you're dumb . Love you but I'm getting you a helmet for Christmas.

Name calling? Yep, DPG Maaaaaaaaad!

[JamStone]

It was not obvious. The logic you're using applies to all East teams more so than WAS. Your main initial statement was a shot at Durant and mostly about wall. You really went into detail about wall. The rest was fluff that outside of Brooks applies to all teams.

Any team in the East would get KD away from the West. Any team would be the 2nd best team by adding KD. Most every team has a Wall quality player already to "take heat" from KD & he's going to paid like the man anywhere he goes.

There is a ton better fits & when you really look at what you wrote you propping up Wall as someone who can save KD is the only thing (besides Brooks) that matters or is different from any team in the East.

Washington being close to home does not apply to all East teams. Scotty Brooks being the Wizards head coach does not apply to all East teams.

My point about Wall is that he's an all star type player who is the type of player like Westbrook who will have the ball in his hands at the end of games to take pressure off Durant. That being the case, Durant can be paid like the franchise player but will also have a teammate (like Westbrook) who has the balls and the talent to take over the game when it's not Durant's day. Not every team in the East has that type of player. A few do, but not most. So it does not apply to all East teams as well. I'm not talking about joining 30+ year old fading stars like Carmelo or Wade. I'm not talking about unproven up-and-coming stars like the Greek Freak. And teams like Philly, Orlando, Brooklyn, Atlanta, Charlotte, and Detroit don't even have either. That is unless you consider guys like Paul Millsap, Kemba Walker, Reggie Jackson enough star power to take pressure off Durant. I don't. There's only a handful of teams in the East that can offer a guy with John Wall's talents still very much in the prime of their careers. Cleveland obviously but that's not a realistic fit. Paul George, maybe argue the tandem of Lowry/DeRozen, maybe argue Isaiah Thomas in Boston. Who else? That's not "most every team" in the East. That's like one-third of East teams.

You can call it fluff. They were legitimate points.


I don't see the "ton" of better fits. I certainly don't think Boston is a better fit, which you suggested earlier. They have Isaiah Thomas and a bunch of role players. Cap room only gives them an opportunity to add better players, not a certainty that they will. Isaiah Thomas, Durant and guys like Avery Bradley and Kelly Olynyk and Jared Sullinger? That's a better fit? That's what you seem to think. I don't know what other Eastern team makes better sense.

Washington has all of their other positions set with Wall, Beal, Morris, and Gortat. What they need to improve the most is their team offensive efficiency. Durant fits that need and the SF position.

To me, if Durant were to bail on OKC to go to the Eastern Conference, Washington makes the most sense.

[DPG21920]

Well you calling Wall a star essentially while questioning Millsap, Kemba & Jackson is where we disagree.

Wall can "have balls & talent" all he wants but couldn't drag WAS to the playoffs with a roster you are trying to sell KD on being talented?

It makes no sense but you seem to like Wall. Again, why leave Westbrook for Poorbrook if the team isn't better? Unless you are saying winning isn't the main goal for KD or you just really believe an East non/playoff team is really that talented.

[DPG21920]

So awesome Wall & a solid core that's supposed to be contenders by adding KD is better than Thomas & a bunch of role players that made the playoffs where WAS couldn't.

I'll take the guys who made the playoffs adding KD than the guys who didn't. There's 8 of them that are all better options. Yes including DET who's obviously better than WAS.

[djohn2oo8]

Winning and losing, making or missing the playoffs is a team accomplishment or failure. It's not all on Wall. They were a couple wins of squeaking in with Brad Beal missing nearly 30 games.

I happen to believe that adding Durant to the Wizards automatically make them the 2nd best team in the East.

And I do believe Wall would be able to bail Durant out when Durant fails. Wall shares some similarities with Westbrook actually, in not only style of play but ego and confidence. A player like that is a good fit for Durant's sometimes passive personality. Washington was middle of the road defensively last year, but they were bottom 10 offensive team. They were so reliant on Wall and Beal to score. Durant would boost their offensive efficiency a ton.

And there's always that Scott Brooks connection. Durant's favorite head coach. And now he's there in Washington.

Durant is not that fond of Brooks

[Darth_Pelican]

NOLA may make a pitch to him to come play with AD and build around those 2. They have the #6 overall pick to offer and Gordon and Anderson's contracts are both expired. But KD won't consider coming here.

[baseline bum]

I can see him staying for that one year plus another option as rumors and reports have suggested. But it would be in his best interest to bail this summer.

If I were KD, I'd bail on the entire Western Conference. I'd go to the best fit in the Eastern Conference. And while Washington didn't even make the playoffs this season, if you add Durant to the Wall and Beal and Gortat core, I think that's already the best compe ion for the Cavs in the East. It's also a good fit for Durant on paper. He gets paid like the franchise superstar, but he'll have John Wall to carry him when he wilts. Getting away from the Western Conference and the multiple power teams to a soft Eastern Conference where any team he goes to will automatically be the 2nd best team in the conference should appeal to him. Having the chance to be perceived as the man, but having a failsafe in John Wall when he can't come through. That's a good situation for him.

And it's close to home, which gave rise to rumors of him going to Washington for the last couple of years anyway.

John Wall isn't much of a failsafe. If I'm Durant and I'm going East it's to Boston, not Washington. They have a boatload of capspace and Bradley, Thomas, and Smart on really reasonable deals. And then the third pick this year. That's a team that could really become somebody with KD.

[baseline bum]

And the media would love Durant making the Celtics relevant again.

[UZER]

Build around? Durant doesn't have time to build around. He needs to win now. He's 28 already and who knows if his foot will hold up past 32.

[DAF86]

I think he stays. Way too beta to take the heat of leaving OKC.

[JamStone]

John Wall isn't much of a failsafe. If I'm Durant and I'm going East it's to Boston, not Washington. They have a boatload of capspace and Bradley, Thomas, and Smart on really reasonable deals. And then the third pick this year. That's a team that could really become somebody with KD.

A boatload of capspace doesn't mean they any add great players with it. That's not tangible. It's hope, conjecture, and hypthetical. The third pick in this draft might net the Celtics a guard like Hield, Murray, or Dunn (which doesn't address their biggest needs) or a project international big in that Bender prospect, who will unlikely make an immediate impact. So you're still talking about Thomas and Bradley (I don't think Smart is very good), a rookie who may or may not be any good, and a bunch of role players.

In Washington, you have a multiple all star at PG, a pretty good and young SG, and two serviceable bigs in Gortat and Morris. They're not great, but I take those two over what Boston has in the frontcourt with guys like Olynyk, Sullinger, Johnson. By adding Durant, Washington has less holes to fill than Boston, and the holes they would still have would be really off the bench depth holes. Adding Durant to Boston, they would still need two major upgrades at PF and C and could stand to upgrade Bradley at SG.

And in the Eastern Conference, it's so wide open and year to year, things can change drastically. Look at what Atlanta did from 2014 to 2015 without any major changes to the core of their roster. From 38 wins to 60 wins in one year. The biggest thing might have been Horford being healthy for most of the year. That's a similar issue with Washington from last year to next season. Beal missed 27 games. Morris was a mid-season acquisition. They were 3 games out of the playoffs with Beal sidelined one-third of the season and with Morris only playing the last couple months on their team. Things can change quickly in the wide open East. Every thing else equal, Washington's roster appears more attractive to me, despite the success Boston had and how bad Washington's record was last season.

[JamStone]

Durant is not that fond of Brooks

Haven't heard that before. Things I've read make it appear that he not only has respect but a fondness for Brooks.

I have zero inside information. That's just what it seems from stuff I've read online.

[DAF86]

Boston > Washington

Wall and Beal are overrated, I'd rather take Brad Stevens and Boston's market over those two very flawed players.

[JamStone]

I think Boston played way over their heads this season. Now that's definitely a credit to Stevens and Thomas who played great. But I think the same Boston team next season would come crashing down to earth and be a .500 team at best.

[Spurs9]

Bails, how many times you gonna keep trying it with Westbrook

[Spurs 4 The Win]

Haven't heard that before. Things I've read make it appear that he not only has respect but a fondness for Brooks.

I have zero inside information. That's just what it seems from stuff I've read online.

Agreed, although, having a semi decent coach like Donovan may have opened his eyes

[baseline bum]

A boatload of capspace doesn't mean they any add great players with it. That's not tangible. It's hope, conjecture, and hypthetical. The third pick in this draft might net the Celtics a guard like Hield, Murray, or Dunn (which doesn't address their biggest needs) or a project international big in that Bender prospect, who will unlikely make an immediate impact. So you're still talking about Thomas and Bradley (I don't think Smart is very good), a rookie who may or may not be any good, and a bunch of role players.

In Washington, you have a multiple all star at PG, a pretty good and young SG, and two serviceable bigs in Gortat and Morris. They're not great, but I take those two over what Boston has in the frontcourt with guys like Olynyk, Sullinger, Johnson. By adding Durant, Washington has less holes to fill than Boston, and the holes they would still have would be really off the bench depth holes. Adding Durant to Boston, they would still need two major upgrades at PF and C and could stand to upgrade Bradley at SG.

And in the Eastern Conference, it's so wide open and year to year, things can change drastically. Look at what Atlanta did from 2014 to 2015 without any major changes to the core of their roster. From 38 wins to 60 wins in one year. The biggest thing might have been Horford being healthy for most of the year. That's a similar issue with Washington from last year to next season. Beal missed 27 games. Morris was a mid-season acquisition. They were 3 games out of the playoffs with Beal sidelined one-third of the season and with Morris only playing the last couple months on their team. Things can change quickly in the wide open East. Every thing else equal, Washington's roster appears more attractive to me, despite the success Boston had and how bad Washington's record was last season.

Thomas is an allstar too. Both Wall and Thomas are high usage low efficiency point guards, but Wall is paid like a star and keeps the Wizards from adding much around him. That third pick could be some nice trade bait to land a bigman and they'd have the money to get Horford or Howard in addition to Durant.

[JamStone]

Thomas is an allstar too. Both Wall and Thomas are high usage low efficiency point guards, but Wall is paid like a star and keeps the Wizards from adding much around him. That third pick could be some nice trade bait to land a bigman and they'd have the money to get Horford or Howard in addition to Durant.

Wall's contract is more reasonable than you might think. It's about $16 million per year and won't even break $18 million in annual the next three seasons. With the escalating salary cap the next two years, the Wizards have plenty of financial maneuverability, even if and when they extend Beal after next season. They don't have as much cap space as the Celtics or Lakers, but they have something like $45 million in cap space this summer. And again, fewer major holes than Boston.

[DPG21920]

I think Boston played way over their heads this season. Now that's definitely a credit to Stevens and Thomas who played great. But I think the same Boston team next season would come crashing down to earth and be a .500 team at best.

Even if they crashed down & became a 500 team, that's still where WAS was this year.

[baseline bum]

Wall's contract is more reasonable than you might think. It's about $16 million per year and won't even break $18 million in annual the next three seasons. With the escalating salary cap the next two years, the Wizards have plenty of financial maneuverability, even if and when they extend Beal after next season. They don't have as much cap space as the Celtics or Lakers, but they have something like $45 million in cap space this summer. And again, fewer major holes than Boston.

Thomas' is less than half that.