The Golden State Warriors are reeeaaally good. So good that they have the best record in the NBA by four games. So good that they have a shot at the best record of all-time. So good that it’s almost impossible to imagine a way they could get better.
Enter a Woj bomb.
The looming, growing threat of Golden State in the pursuit of Kevin Durant. @WojVerticalNBA column.. https://t.co/XtzspW9ANA
— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) February 2, 2016
According to Yahoo! columnist and NBA cognaoscenti Adrian Wojnarowski, the Warriors are “the significant frontrunners” to sign 2014 MVP Kevin Durant if Durant leaves the Oklahoma City Thunder after this season.
Make no mistake: Durant isn’t close to gone in Oklahoma City – no decision, no leaning, sources said – but the real threats on the summer market are beginning to reveal themselves. Durant is determined to win – to be an immediate championship contender at 27 years old – and that keeps bringing him back to the Warriors should he make the decision to leave Oklahoma City.
Outside of a Thunder championship closing down the process before July 1, there’s a strong expectation that Durant will hit the road, tour campuses and become a recruit again.
For several years, the Thunder have had two of the best players in the NBA in Durant and Russell Westbrook, but a combination of injuries, timing, and an inability to find capable role players has kept Oklahoma City from winning a title. And while the Thunder appear no closer to building a title-caliber team than they’ve been at any point over the past five years, the Warriors have become a near-perfect organization, developing the kind of deep roster and efficient chemistry OKC has always seemed to lack.
It’s almost scary to imagine Durant slotting into the Warriors starting five to form a Curry-Thompson-Durant-Green-Bogut lineup of doom. According to Yahoo!’s Bobby Marks, Golden State would accomplish this fairly easily under the salary cap by trading Andre Iguodala, renouncing Harrison Barnes, and using the stretch provision on Bogut.
Just like that, the Warriors would have a starting lineup featuring four 2016 Western Conference All-Stars.
Of course, adding Durant would necessitate a shift in the Warriors’ ball distribution. Curry and especially Thompson would almost certainly have to sacrifice some of their shots. Maybe it’s better to avoid fixing something that clearly isn’t broken?
I mean, the Warriors are already basically perfect on both sides of the ball. Does Durant fix something that is unbroken?
— Best Contrarian (@basquiatball) February 2, 2016
Of course, when you’re worried that adding one of the five best players in the league will hurt your team, you’re probably in pretty great shape as a franchise.
