Kevin Durant (Photo : Getty Images)
While there is an ongoing Kobe Bryant "farewell tour" there is also a Kevin Durant welcoming party in every city he plays in.
When the Boston Cetlics hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder, there were the expected overtures from the crowd chanting for Durant to join them next year. The Celtics is one of the most aggressive teams when it comes to acquiring a superstar and Durant is the biggest fish in the pond.
The reports already spread across Boston when Durant said he "liked" the city and he "liked playing in it." He elaborated that if asked, he would also say he liked Philly because he "was not going to say anything bad about it." His full quote from Anthony Slater's Twitter.
Full quote from Kevin Durant on the Boston buzz he created after saying he liked the city pic.twitter.com/NxMSez11l7
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 18, 2016
In an article from Hoops Habit, writer Eric Laboissonniere claimed that the Boston Celtics fans should awaken from their Durant dream.
"Durant wants to sign somewhere that has a real shot of winning a championship right when he joins the team," the article stated. "The Celtics can not win a championship with Durant and the roster they have now, and it would still be tough even if they added another free agent on their team."
His brutally frank bottom line: "Durant might sign with an Eastern Conference team to avoid the Warriors and Spurs, but he will not be playing in a Celtics uniform next season."
To be fair, the Celtics are not known to be major free agency players. Their team is equipped for trades, even though they do have the cap space. To make themselves worth a double take from Durant, the Celtics need to parlay their assets into a superstar, and then make the pitch to KD.
One team that has seldom ventured into free agency but has emerged as a major threat is the San Antonio Spurs. They signed the top free agent last summer in LaMarcus Aldridge and with their status as the best organization in US professional sports, the entire NBA trembled when it was reported that they could possibly throw in their hat in the Durant derby.
However, the Spurs do not have the cap space to pull off signing Kevin Durant outright. As Fox Sports Australia noted, The Spurs just signed LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard to maximum contracts last summer. They're loaded at just about every position and tossing in a third max deal feels like too tight of a squeeze."
While the thought of adding one of the top three players in the world intrigues the Spurs, it's an organization that does not compromise for one person. It is still a question on just how hard they are willing to pursue Durant. As KD has a lot of choices, he probably won't make an effort to wait on the Spurs.
