Y'all Niccas Truly Ain't Ready For This Dynasty Thing: Official 2017-18 Warriors Season Thread
- Thread starter G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
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G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
Logic Is Absent Wherever Hate Is Present
Yes sir
ATLANTA — In the transactionally obsessed NBA world — even midseason, months before free agency — half of the bubbling storylines are tied in some way to the summer. Come July 2018, will LeBron James and Paul George move locales? Come July 2019, can Kyrie Irving and Kawhi Leonard be pried from their current teams?
Those far-off dreams even touch the Warriors a bit: Klay Thompson, part of that 2019 class that is due to hit free agency 16 months from now, is on the (albeit unlikely) wish list of many.
But another Warriors name, a bigger, more influential star, is actually next up on the docket, yet he is always omitted from these discussions: Kevin Durant, who signed a two-year deal with the Warriors in 2017 with an opt-out this summer, is free to sign wherever he wants in four months. But no one across the league seems to even pretend like it's a possibility that he will leave Oakland.
So it seemed wise, following the Warriors' shootaround in Atlanta on Friday, to approach Durant and check his pulse on the situation. The following is his conversation with The Athletic on this issue.
“Oh, you want to start this up?” Durant said with an eye-roll.
Is this as foregone a conclusion as the rest of the league seems to believe it to be?
“I'm not even thinking about that,” Durant said. “I'm here. I'm here. I ain't even thought about it.”
To make it simpler: Is it 100 percent, in your mind, that you will be back with the Warriors next season?
“Yeah,” Durant said. “Yeah.”
Back in 2016, when he made that shocking mid-career move from the Thunder to Warriors, Durant signed a two-year deal with a one-year opt-out. At the time, the short-term pact was the smartest way to maximize his long-term earnings, allowing him to dip back into free agency the next summer, after his 10th year in the league, which put him in that final mega max veteran tier, meaning his next contract could start at 35 percent of the cap, not 30 percent.
But then summer 2017 arrived and Durant actually took far less, nearly $10 million under his max starting dollar amount, clearing the way for the Warriors to keep Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. There was no reason to commit to that smaller amount long-term, though, so again the one-year opt-out made sense.
That again left open the possibility that, if things hit an unlikely sour turn this season, he'd have the freedom to look around. But things haven't soured. The relationship between Durant and the Warriors organization is as firm as ever. And even though he's been on the unstable year-to-year plan, Durant said he's always felt like he's on a long-term deal with the Warriors.
Yeah, I do (feel like that),” Durant told The Athletic. “Financially, obviously, what I wanted to do last year, it made sense. Well, the last two years, it made sense to do the one-year deal. I'm sure here soon I'll want to sign a long-term deal just to feel stable. But I'm enjoying every moment of it, so I'm not trying to look too far down the line.”
The Warriors still won't have Durant's full Bird Rights this summer, so he can't sign the five-year max starting at 35 percent of the cap. It's possible he signs a one-year pact again.
But the Warriors do have his early-Bird Rights so he could get the four-year max, starting at 35 percent of the cap with eight percent yearly raises, while still not taking up one of the team's designated veteran slots — something that could be ticketed for a Thompson or Draymond Green extension down the line.
Has he thought about the likely plan?
“Who knows?” Durant said. “The money is not important to me. I've made so much over my career. But I do know that I want to be here, I love playing here.”
Could that mean another discount, if Durant and the Warriors deem it helpful?
“Who knows? Who knows how I'll feel? Who knows what'll happen, what we'll need at that time?” Durant said. “But like I said, money is not my concern, I'm concerned with my joy and happiness. I made so much money — to be honest, I could live what I've made off forever.”
What's unclear: The exact dollar amount and length of Durant's future contracts.
What's clear: The team he expects to be on.
Well, actually,” Durant said, his sarcastic grin obvious, ready to lean into an Internet joke about him. “I want to wait to see who wins the championship and whoever wins that, that's who I'm going to sign with.”
Durant then turned away, let out a hearty laugh and chucked up a 3-pointer. My Next Chapter.
Those far-off dreams even touch the Warriors a bit: Klay Thompson, part of that 2019 class that is due to hit free agency 16 months from now, is on the (albeit unlikely) wish list of many.
But another Warriors name, a bigger, more influential star, is actually next up on the docket, yet he is always omitted from these discussions: Kevin Durant, who signed a two-year deal with the Warriors in 2017 with an opt-out this summer, is free to sign wherever he wants in four months. But no one across the league seems to even pretend like it's a possibility that he will leave Oakland.
So it seemed wise, following the Warriors' shootaround in Atlanta on Friday, to approach Durant and check his pulse on the situation. The following is his conversation with The Athletic on this issue.
“Oh, you want to start this up?” Durant said with an eye-roll.
Is this as foregone a conclusion as the rest of the league seems to believe it to be?
“I'm not even thinking about that,” Durant said. “I'm here. I'm here. I ain't even thought about it.”
To make it simpler: Is it 100 percent, in your mind, that you will be back with the Warriors next season?
“Yeah,” Durant said. “Yeah.”
Back in 2016, when he made that shocking mid-career move from the Thunder to Warriors, Durant signed a two-year deal with a one-year opt-out. At the time, the short-term pact was the smartest way to maximize his long-term earnings, allowing him to dip back into free agency the next summer, after his 10th year in the league, which put him in that final mega max veteran tier, meaning his next contract could start at 35 percent of the cap, not 30 percent.
But then summer 2017 arrived and Durant actually took far less, nearly $10 million under his max starting dollar amount, clearing the way for the Warriors to keep Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. There was no reason to commit to that smaller amount long-term, though, so again the one-year opt-out made sense.
That again left open the possibility that, if things hit an unlikely sour turn this season, he'd have the freedom to look around. But things haven't soured. The relationship between Durant and the Warriors organization is as firm as ever. And even though he's been on the unstable year-to-year plan, Durant said he's always felt like he's on a long-term deal with the Warriors.
Yeah, I do (feel like that),” Durant told The Athletic. “Financially, obviously, what I wanted to do last year, it made sense. Well, the last two years, it made sense to do the one-year deal. I'm sure here soon I'll want to sign a long-term deal just to feel stable. But I'm enjoying every moment of it, so I'm not trying to look too far down the line.”
The Warriors still won't have Durant's full Bird Rights this summer, so he can't sign the five-year max starting at 35 percent of the cap. It's possible he signs a one-year pact again.
But the Warriors do have his early-Bird Rights so he could get the four-year max, starting at 35 percent of the cap with eight percent yearly raises, while still not taking up one of the team's designated veteran slots — something that could be ticketed for a Thompson or Draymond Green extension down the line.
Has he thought about the likely plan?
“Who knows?” Durant said. “The money is not important to me. I've made so much over my career. But I do know that I want to be here, I love playing here.”
Could that mean another discount, if Durant and the Warriors deem it helpful?
“Who knows? Who knows how I'll feel? Who knows what'll happen, what we'll need at that time?” Durant said. “But like I said, money is not my concern, I'm concerned with my joy and happiness. I made so much money — to be honest, I could live what I've made off forever.”
What's unclear: The exact dollar amount and length of Durant's future contracts.
What's clear: The team he expects to be on.
Well, actually,” Durant said, his sarcastic grin obvious, ready to lean into an Internet joke about him. “I want to wait to see who wins the championship and whoever wins that, that's who I'm going to sign with.”
Durant then turned away, let out a hearty laugh and chucked up a 3-pointer. My Next Chapter.
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Bell
I went to the game tonight. We pulled away at the end, but the nets should’ve never been that close to us at the end of the 3rd quarter. Also, any word on Bell? His injury looked pretty bad.
yseJ
Empire strikes back
I really dont think hes been a bad signing. hes the only guy capable of shooting 3s off the bench (iggys shot is
) and he's making his 
G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
Logic Is Absent Wherever Hate Is Present
No it didn't.
G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
Logic Is Absent Wherever Hate Is Present
He really hasn’t shot the 3 that well in my opinion. He’ll have some games here and there where he is on fire but he’ll have more games where he makes no or negative impact. That’s not entirely his fault as he gets spotty minutes from Kerr but I still expected better from him.I really dont think hes been a bad signing. hes the only guy capable of shooting 3s off the bench (iggys shot is