The NBA Rumors continue to hover on Kevin Durant's possible destination as the pretenders start to get weeded out.
Perhaps not even Kevin Durant knows at this point which jersey he will be donning come October 2016 when the next season starts. A lot may depend on whether he has a championship ring on his finger.
As the season progresses, the speculation starts to get clearer. But even as some teams may fall off the running, new options also emerge.
According to Bleacher Report, the once-touted Washington Wizards may have fallen off the board.
The Wizards were expected to make noise this season. They went on an extended playoff run in the last season and they showed that they can go toe-to-toe with the best of the Eastern Conference if they have a veteran scoring swingman in tow-that was Paul Pierce.
That was their main selling point-if they can reach that far with Pierce at the three, how much farther can they go with someone like KD?
It's a pity they were not able to build on that momentum. While they were ravaged by injuries, their top player, John Wall was still active and they were not able to show the resiliency required from a contender.
Also, as B/R pointed out, a trio of Durant, Wall and rising star Bradley Beal would not be better than the OKC trio of Durant, Westbrook and Serge Ibaka. With the Wizards frontline looking helpless, the team has no balance.
One team that does have balance (or at least the capacity to attain it) is the Boston Celtics. No less than their former coach, now rival Doc Rivers has praises for his former team, as he shares on Mass Live.
"I don't know what I expected, but they are in a great spot," Rivers said. "They are playing winning basketball. They are tough to play because they are 12 deep and they clearly have a lot of decisions to make in the next year or two. They are in a really good place. I think when you look at them compared to other teams that are in a 'rebuild' it's not even close. I just think they are in a really good place to take a huge next step."
The Celtics GM Danny Ainge has placed himself in the best position. While other teams like the Lakers have mere cap space and sell Durant the idea that they can also sign any other free agent of his choice, the Celtics can free up cap space and also spin their assets to make a "Godfather" trade offer to anyone in the league.
If they can trade for a franchise player like DeMarcus Cousins prior to the offseason, they can anoint themselves as a worthy contender.