Kevin Durant Thread: Is A New Snake Destined For LA?

Just horrible man. I feel so bad for KD. What a warrior though..pun intended. Came back when he didn't have to....could have just let the Warriors lose this game and then the narrative woulda been "Warrriors couldn't get it done without KD". Instead, he just lost himself a ton of money potentially and he may never be the same player ever again. if KOBE couldn't even recover from this injury, I doubt KD will.

Now as far as off-season...this does change everything. This is either going to be REALLY bad for us or REALLY good for us.

Why it COULD be bad:

1. Kyrie may not consider going to NYK or BKN alone. Yes, Butler could join him, but I think he was more enthused about playing with KD. Likely, BKN and NYK will not take the risk in pursuing KD which leaves Kyrie not wanting to go alone.
2. With KD beinig out of the picture...BOS may feel like they have a shot at convincing Kyrie to stay and they may go ALL IN on AD to convince Kyrie to stay.
3. Not only will BOS go all in...but with NYK/BKN not going after KD....the next big and attainable fish would be AD. This could force NYK/BKN and other teams (LAC too) to go ALL IN on AD...and that'll just push the price up for us to trade for AD.
4. To follow on that...teams like LAC and other western conf teams (blazers, nuggets, rockets?) may take a gamble on AD because KD will be out the entire year and it leaves GS a bit vulnerable and maybe even beatable (yes that core won 73 games once but that was now 3 years ago so they're a bit older with a lot more mileage). The west could be wide open now thanks to KD injury so other contenders will feel tempted to go "all in" for a shot at the title (and if Raptors win it all, they will look at that as a blueprint to potentially winning a championship by adding AD without giving up too much).

Why it COULD be good:

1. Alternatively, KD going down may shift Kyrie's focus to joining LeBron and the Lakers instead of going to BKN/NYK alone. Also, if LAL makes a deal with NOLA for AD, this could further convince Kyrie to join LAL.


I'm seeing a lot more bad after writing this up....I really hope this isn't the case. We have to close this AD deal FAST so we can get on track with our FA plan

 

Decent Spot up shooter if we’re being honest

 

He sorta has skills...

 

Manute Bol

 

Heard today from Kleiman's office that I should put KD's summer LA arrangements on hold while he figures out how/where he's going to rehab his injury. Reached out to Kleiman to offer my sympathies today but did not hear back.

-Mr. Rambis

 

Wow, keys to the kingdom. I know the owners say they will spend what it takes to maintain their talent, but we'll see how they feel about that when the tab comes. Many owners have said they are ok with it, then make moves to try to minimize it.

Assuming Durant gets paid his contract amount next year and Klay signs a max deal, GSW is at like $150m in salary and they dont have any bench players signed other than Iggy and Livingston. Luxury tax kicks in at something like $130m, so GSW will be paying $50m+ in luxury tax. Livingston might retire which would help, but then they have to replace his production and still sign a bench.

 

He's lucky to be playing for GS. What would C-bags do?

 

DId his Mama send out that pic? Come in KD, don’t let’m see you weak.

 

GS is still maintaining it originally was a calf injury and their staff figured the worst that could happen was re-injury of the calf. Durant also saying he wanted to play. Just saw Kerr on TV, not sure when was recorded.

 

Anyone blaming GS in this situation never watched Kobe play...

 

Never a calf issue.

 

Doc so are they lying or is it possible for the staff to mis-diagnose?

 

Public/media - They lied and told everyone it was the calf. Likely to avoid any concerns for FA. Even though it does not sound like it’s going to deter any one. There was a report from Scoop B that the Lakers were concerned with the “calf” injury being worse than what is being reported and changing their FA stance. This ended up being the case but 99% of the media ran with the calf as an issue.

Durant himself - I believe he knew he had achilles injury. Where I think things went wrong is that he was pressured and questioned for his “calf strain” and not playing. I think there was a very shortsighted view taken.

Definitely lied to the public and I do think there was a component of pressure put on KD to play. There were reports that workouts weren’t going well, that he was having pain pushing off that leg. He was limping a couple days before that game. There were indicators there that said hey maybe it’s not the right thing when you are dealing with achilles injury and not calf.

Ultimately it’s KDs decision but I think he was pressured/forced into that he should play.

 

Is it possible that he needed a surgery anyway? Is there any sort of archilles injury that heals itself?