Kevin Durant has told teams he is meeting with that his decision will be made within the next 24-36 hours, Chris Broussard of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter). Durant’s meeting with the Celtics, one that reportedly featured Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, ended just after 6:30pm, according to David Aldridge of NBA.com. Aldridge also tweets that Durant will meet with the Heat Sunday before meeting again with the Thunder. He is then expected to decide. According to Broussard, however, no decision has been made on whether Durant will meet again with the Thunder (Twitter link). Durant has also met with the Warriors, Spurs and Clippers.
Here’s more from a busy day around the league …
- The Raptors have emerged as another suitor for Pau Gasol, who may look to make a decision after Durant finds a home, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. The Wolves, Blazers and Spurs have expressed interest in Gasol, too, Stein relays (on Twitter).
- Al Horford‘s four-year, $113MM deal with the Celtics includes a player option after the third year, according to his agent Jason Glushon, Shelburne reports (ESPN Now link).
- The Clippers formally offered Jamal Crawford a contract on Saturday, according to Shelburne (ESPN Now link). The Wolves checked in on Crawford Saturday, but they are not close to offering, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets.
- After losing Horford in free agency, the Hawks are expected to halt trade talks and will keep Paul Millsap, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
- The Kings hold a team option for the second year on both of the two-year agreements for Arron Afflalo and Anthony Tolliver, James Ham of CSNBayArea.com tweets.
- The Pelicans have expressed interest in Raymond Felton and New Orleans could be competition for the Mavs, who would like to re-sign Felton, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets.
- The Mavs, Wolves, Pelicans and Spurs are among the teams that have expressed interest in unrestricted free agent Thomas Robinson, Kennedy tweets.
As a basketball move, I think Boston is KD’s best move, but it’s close. Leaving Westbrook and Adams is tough, but there is no guarantee Westbrook is coming back and I think that might be the deciding factor. If Durant does go back to OKC, it has to be a 2 year deal, with an opt out after the 1st year.
If Durant does go to Boston, it allows him to guard the weakest forward of opposing teams. He will also be the go-to player without a doubt and will not have to fight for shots with another player.
Orlando because Ibaka is their.
Lol good one
I do agree with the first comment though. Boston would be ideal for him. They’d instantly challenge the Cavs in the East
They instantly become a title contender without any experience. They only lost Evan Turner but you replace him with Durant. People don’t realize how scrappy
How about golden state where there’s a great team that would be surrounding him already, that has made 2 straight finals appearances and all the warriors have to do to get it done is cut ties with Andrew bogut? How is that not the “best basketball” move if he wants to win?
He would have to fight for shots from everyone. Too much friction
Golden State really wouldn’t be the best place for him. Too many players wanting the ball and no money for any bench players lol
Gasol – Green – Durant – Thompson – Curry
Bench – Iggy – Livingston – Barbosa – McAdoo – Rush – Clark – Jones – Looney
Most Important New Death Lineup…
Green – Durant – Iggy – Thompson – Curry….
If the Warriors sign Durant, Iggy won’t be a part of the team anymore. They will have to move Iggy to make room to pay Durant. Also there is no chance they will have room to add Gasol and Durant. Don’t forget they have to pay curry next year and there is a maximum to the cap even when signing your own free agents back. So the dubs have to keep that in mind so they can pay curry next year and klay in couple more after that.
If the Warriors trade Bogut they won’t need to get rid of Iggy…if Iggy wasn’t going to be part of the team if they get Durant bewilder have been part of the team sent to recruit him to the Warriors
He wouldn’t not bewilder
Nah Bru you got it all wrong…Iggy will be apart of team he even
went with the Warriors when they met with Durant in the Hamptons.
Also when they trade Bogut and his 11mil.
The Warriors cap will be at 69mil..Ok the Cap next year is 94mil.
So add Durant at 21 next year and they will be at 90mil,Now add Gasol between 3 or 4 mil, And there you have it. Plus Gasol will take that pay cut for certain teams to win.
Also The Warriors are not worried about next year because your allowed to go over the Cap if your resigning your own players back. Look at the Cavs last year they re-signed Love Shumpert and Thompson to push their cap to 105mil.
So all the Warriors have to do is Trade Bogut. Let Barnes go to the Mavericks. Let Mo Speights go. And Let Ezeli go. That is all
The Warriors do need to be worried about next year. If I’m understanding ESPN and Team stream correctly there is a hard cap on the salary cap which would mean that at some point they aren’t allowed to go over it regardless if it’s to sign your own players. So unless they are going to convince the 2 time MVP who is drastically under paid compared to other players in the league to take a pay cut they do need to be worried about the cap for next year.
As for the Iggy thing, let’s say they are planing on trading bogut to make room. Who is going to take a 7ft center getting paid 11 mil a year coming off a knee injury. Sounds to me like like that are going to have to put something worth having like an Iggy in the deal to get rid of bogut. I don’t see any other piece on the team they are willing to part with like Curry, Thompson, or Green that have the value that Iggy has. No team will just take Bogut for free there is going to have to been something worth taking on that contract as part of the deal.
Lots of teams will line up to take Bogut. Because he’s a good Center and his contract is very good as an expiring contract and those are very valuable.
Just look a what Mozgov got? or Bismack? or Noah from New York? think about it…
Plus the fact that the Warriors will probably only want a couple draft picks back makes the deal very easy for the other team.
The Knee injury was not series at. It was just a bone bruise. No surgery was needed he should be fine right now.
Remember teams have to spend at least 85mil of the 94mil Cap space this Summer. So instead of one of these crazy deals players are getting this Summer. The Bogut contract will look like a bargin.
The Warriors probably don’t even care what they get back…probably would take a second round pick just to get rid of Bogut if Durant chose them. And like you said, they won’t have to get rid of Iggy if they want Durant, but Durant isn’t going to take $21 million as you earlier suggested. He’s going to take the max (around $26 million) so that basically leaves no space for a guy like Gasol.
Resigning Curry isn’t going to be an issue either because after next season they have Iguodala and Livingston’s contracts expire, those two contracts are enough to pay Curry. The caveat with that, however, is that most of the Warriors’ success (I’d say like 30% of their success) is their depth…the ability to go 9-10 deep on almost any night. Signing Durant and resigning Curry (next year) will limit the amount they can give to their bench. Yeah they’ll have some guys take extreme discounts to play for them, but I doubt a guy like Livingston comes back at that rate. Even Iggy might choose to chase one more big contract…and the opportunity to start…over taking basically the minimum to stay.
If Durant wants to play with Warriors he wouldn’t want to hurt his new team chances of being as strong as possible while he’s there.
So common sense and Durant would say…Hey let me take 20 or 21 per year. Then get the Max on my next Deal..
If Durant signs with Golden State he will take less.. As his goal would not be the Money but rather the chance to win multiple Championships right now.
Again Next year Curry, Iggy and Livingston can all get the Max to stay on there own team.. even though Iggy or Livingston wont get Max deals
hey doc, PAY CRAWFORD. bench is nowhere near as good without him as with him
Crawford to Warriors
I have a feeling that Gasol will sign with San Antonio Spurs or Golden State, just so he can have a shot at another ring. If Durant wants to win multiple championships and be talked about for decades about being one of the players in the best team ever assembled, he needs to sign with Golden State. With a short 24-36 hour time period, I have a feeling that he has already made up his mind on the first day. As far as being the 2nd option, he is already the 2nd option in OKC, and the Warriors play unselfish ball; they pass it to whoever is hot. Best basketball decision he can make is guaranteed finals appearance with Golden State while playing in the West, rather than a maybe for OKC.
How is he the second option in OKC? If anything its a 1a and 1b scenario in OKC, but even then, Durant is 1a (don’t believe, watch the playoff series against the Warriors and look at who was taking the shots as the game started winding down). Despite the Warriors team ball mentality, he is going to be the second option behind Steph…it’s Steph’s team.
I wish the Celtics would sign Thomas Robinson. The kid is tough down low. He grabs boards on both ends of the floor really well and can protect the rim as well as score around the basket.
I thought he was under contract with the nets
Pau gasol would be another nice fit for the Celtics. A respected vet who can mentor young players and contribute on both ends of the court. A startibg 5 of: Thomas Bradley Crowder Gasol Horford would be nice if you can’t have thomas Bradley Crowder rant horford
Durant**