KD seems to me like the sort who would hate to leave a franchise that is going this far to make the franchise better going forward. What do you think? (Ugggh ..... can someone edit the title please [ why can't OPs do this??? ] to change "Kd" to KD .... much appreciated ) Why Billy Donovan's departure to the NBA is another big blow to college basketball By Pat Forde2 hours agoYahoo Sports For the past several years, Billy Donovan's jump to the NBA has seemed inevitable. But anticipating it happening doesn't lessen the blow to college basketball. Donovan on Thursday agreed to a five-year deal to become the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder, league sources told Yahoo Sports. This is a huge loss to a fragile game. It's an understandable move for the man, but a detrimental outcome for the wobbly sport he's leaving behind. Donovan is on the very short list of the best coaches in college hoops – has been for a while, and could have been for another 15-20 years if he had chosen to stay at Florida. Every bit as significant is what he means to his peer group and his conference. Boston C Bags has only helped clear the way for Donovan – and perhaps others in the future. Ollie was a reported secondary candidate at Oklahoma City if the Donovan deal did not work out. Kentucky coach John Calipari took a long look at the Cleveland job last year, and those who know him have long said that he has an interest in returning to the league where he failed in the 1990s. Brain drain in a sport that is struggling to identify its next generation of star coaches is a significant issue. Donovan is one of the most important figures in the modern era of college basketball. As a player on the Final Four Providence team of 1987, Donovan helped usher in the 3-point shot as a major strategic weapon. As a coach he had huge accomplishments at a young age: taking over his first program (Marshall) at 28; moving to Florida at 30; winning his first title at 40; his second a year later; and chalking up 502 victories before age 50. The other negative impact of Donovan's departure is on the Southeastern Conference. A strong case can be made that Donovan is the second-greatest coach in SEC history, behind only Adolph Rupp. Rupp won four national titles. Donovan won two. Nobody else in the history of the league has won more than one. Donovan's four Final Fours also is surpassed by only Rupp, who had six. Calipari also has made it to four as coach at Kentucky. Nobody else has made more than three as an SEC coach. View gallery . Donovan nearly left Florida to coach the Magic in 2007. (Getty Images) Donovan's 19-year tenure was longer than Nolan Richardson's at Arkansas, longer than Wimp Sanderson's at Alabama, longer than Joe B. Hall, Pitino, Tubby Smith or Calipari (to date) at Kentucky. In a league that can divide its basketball homestead into the Kentucky Wing and the Everyone Else Wing, Donovan did a lot to gussy up that side of the house. In a league that thinks of football first, football recruiting second and spring football third, Donovan showed that a gridiron school can succeed – and have staying power – on the hardwood. In fact, his excellence in Gainesville made Florida the leading two-sport school in the nation. The list of colleges that have won national titles in both football and men's basketball in the last 25 years is exactly one. And the Gators have won multiples in each during that time: three in football and two in hoops. Donovan's departure does not doom Florida to perennial second-tier status – he built the program into one of the best in the nation, and that shouldn't disappear without him. But athletic director Jeremy Foley needs to get this hire right. Donovan is likely to endorse assistants Anthony Grant and John Pelphrey as his successor – but both already have been fired from an SEC job (Grant at Alabama this year, Pelphrey at Arkansas in 2011). Expect Minnesota coach and former Donovan assistant Richard Pitino to make a push for the position. Smart would have been a slam-dunk candidate, but he cast his lot with Texas. So Foley's search could well widen beyond the Donovan family tree. If it does, Archie Miller of Dayton would certainly merit strong consideration. The 36-year-old Miller, whose Flyers teams have won five games in the past two NCAA tournaments despite being seeded 11th both times, is America's leading college coach under 40. It would be fitting for Florida to replace a departing star of the modern era with a guy who could be the next great. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/why-bi...big-blow-to-college-basketball-021825516.html
Never thought we had a shot at him anyway. The year he becomes a free agent the cap jumps and EVERY team in the league will have enough room for him. We would literally have to sell him on the Laker legacy and LA weather. That is the only thing we would have. Sure, we may have Randle, Towns and Clarkson, but there will be teams like the Wizards who can offer Beal and Wall. Or what about the Warriors that can offer Steph, Klay, Iggy and likely Green. I have resigned myself to the fact that our best chance at contention is killing it in the draft. Its why I'm keen on taking Upshaw at 27 if we don't sneak up and grab Towns and Okafor. We are going to need to take a couple minor risks.
Sadly, every year, there will be MANY teams with cap space. Having cap space alone means nothing now, and I hope our FO understands that. Signing second-tier players to the max also does not mean much either. Take a look at what the Knicks have been doing for the past 2 decades. Lol.
A couple counters although obviously you have a point: 1. Pride still plays a factor. Durant was an MVP candidate. He's not going to want to go to a team in Golden State where he's always at least the 3rd mouth to feed. I just don't see that happening. It's sort of like how Carmelo could have gone to Chicago, but didn't. Part of it is money and part of it is that Chicago is Rose's team. In Golden State he'd be 2nd fiddle to Curry no matter what. It's Curry's team. Here he'd be the 1st fiddle with guys playing around him. It's not the highest priority, but it's certainly something that needs to be considered. The Wizards are a great bet though if he wants to go home (although I think the going home thing is over-exaggerated for players) 2. We would have the three rookies AND whoever we get in FA this season AND possibly Kobe back on a one-year rental deal. Playing into the pride factor: Kevin Durant would be the leader of that group. Are they ready right away? No probably not, but Durant gets to be the guy who leads them there. There's some draw in that for those upper echelon players. 3. Money. Sure California has the taxes, but the reason they do is because there's so much more money to be made here for the rich and famous. Durant is his own brand already, but the platform of LA changes everything about how much money he'll make. I remember he likes to rap, we've got the means to make an album possible if he wants. He has some commercial deals now, well LA is the place to dominate endorsements. I remember he wanted to only advertise healthy-conscious products well guess which market loves healthy-conscious nonsense more than any other market in the US? He made that horrible movie not too long ago, well guess which city can rectify that and expunge that movie from all records? That's right LA can. Guess where he can most easily open a separate business? A restaurant chain? A clothing line? A bagel shop? LA has the best opportunities for that besides NY and of course we've got the women and the weather to go with it. There's more reasons to come here than basketball. If the basketball side looks half-way inviting the city should do the rest of the advertising. 4. If we blow the draft and FA then yes everything you said is going to happen and there's nothing LA can do about it.
Excuse me for the off topic, but kind of related... Lots was already said and written about the upcoming huge increase of the cap. Everybody seems to assume that all teams will use up all of it. I was wondering whether that is true. Some of the teams may not be willing to spend the extra dollars even if there are no taxes for going over the cap. Teams like the Lakers, Mavs, Bulls, Knicks and some more "reach" clubs will certainly do so, but should we expect that the payroll of all teams will automatically adjust to the new cap? If not, the increased cap would be an even bigger opportunity for the typical powerhouses of the NBA, including of course the Lakers.
I agree with all those things. I just look at basketball reasons. I'm not sure anyone looks at OKC as Westbrook's team, at least not yet. But Westbrook + Durant + Ibaka always has a shot. He may never have a shot in LA through his entire prime if he came next year. Washington is the team I think has the best shot. A great backcourt with Wall and Beal. A nice center. They can probably resign Nene with the cap room they'd still have. And it's his home town. I think he becomes the unquestioned leader of that team as well the second he signs. In the end, it all boils down to the draft and free agency this offseason. It's actually one of the main reasons I prefer Okafor over Towns. I actually think Towns may end up being the better player. I'd say 60/40 in favor of Towns. But Okafor makes us more attractive faster to free agents.
It's all very fluid definitely. I mean at any minute Wall could bust his leg, lose his athleticism, and then that team isn't any better than ours honestly in a couple years. Randle and Clarkson have to prove how valuable they are next season. And of course we need at least one home run in the off-season. The good news is there's plenty of room for that. I'm coming around on Towns, but I still get nervous about those knees. Everything I see about the way he moves shouts knee problems. I don't get that with Okafor because frankly he's a less explosive athlete so there's less jarring use, but Towns really does frighten me with those knees... The potential is higher defensively, but there's also a decent shot he ends up like Bynum with degenerating knees. Too much landing on one leg in traffic, too much explosive movement without enough bend in his knees, and too much weight up top without a strong base. Say what you will about Okafor and his athleticism, but he's built like a farm. He's got a big butt and big legs which is exactly what you need with a frame like his.
Washington is more setup to acquire Durant than us; Wall, Beal, Nene, Gortat, an easier Eastern Conference with an aging Lebron, and I would favor them to land Durant if anything. If we want a real shot to land Durant, we need an impact player/All-Star this off-season and to BE in the PO's next season.
And he's gonna make a bigger impact in year one (most likely). If he comes out of the gate at 16 and 8 or 17 and 9 (not impossible with his already polished game), Clarkson continues to improve and Randle turns out to be the dude we all hope he can be, then Durant gives a a look. But I think we need all 3 of those things. Towns, Mudiay, and the other rookies are far more raw and won't be able to show much to convince Durant that the Lakers will be ready to contend within his 4-5 year "prime" window. OKC is a "ready made" contender. The Wiz (barring injury) would be as well. Randle would have to be fighting it out with Okafor for Rookie of the year (yes, I know Randle can't technically win the award), and Clarkson would have to start to resemble Monta Ellis, the current Monta Ellis for Durant to think he could snag a couple titles and a deep playoff runs.
Actually that's why I want Carroll and Asik (or I suppose Chandler?) this summer. It might sound like a punt but it does three things: 1. It sets up a team that is literally built for Durant to come in and be successful. 2. It gives the young guys a couple of strong mentors and locker room presences. 3. It may seem like a punt, but their solid play will help the team be more successful in the short term which would be more attractive to an incoming FA. You're right that a lot will be asked of our young players, but them's the breaks. They're going to have to be THAT good if we're going to build around them anyway. To Clarkson's credit he's more or less proven he can do it(my year long hope is something like 15/6/4 with a steal). Randle looked like an 15/7 kind of guy right from the start and I think he could do something like that right now. Whatever our rookie does has to be ROY quality for sure but being in the Top 3 would be a decent indicator that he should be able to compete for the award.
