Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant (Photo : Sam Greenwood | Getty Images Sport)
The NBA free agency rumors still center on the biggest name from which all the other 'dominoes' will start to fall.
It is projected that no team in the running for Durant will make a major free agency signing until he has reached a definite decision. The list of teams interested in his services has been expanding with almost the entire league having cap space to offer a max contract.
The San Antonio Spurs, the best-managed team in American professional sports are no exceptions to this and with the impending retirement of Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, adding Durant would be the perfect piece to ensure the continuity of their dynasty.
One of the NBA's young basketball sages, Zach Lowe of ESPN wrote this intriguing observation.
"The Spurs buzz is ascendant in a way that is eerily similar to what happened last January at the D-League Showcase, when a half-dozen unconnected team executives warned me over the span of a few days that LaMarcus Aldridge would bolt from Portland for San Antonio," Lowe stated.
Lowe's article was about Scott Brooks with the Wizards which is inevitably tied with the Durant storyline. He warns about believing the latest buzz which stated that Durant "wants no part of going home" to the Wizards. He also mentioned the fickle state of the rumor mill which had the Lakers and also the Warriors being in and out of the Durant race. (Incidentally, the Wizards rumor came from Chris Mannix of the Vertical and the Warriors rumor is credited to Adrian Wojnarowski, also of The Vertical at Yahoo Sports).
In dispelling the certainty of the previous claims, he is strengthening the argument for the Spurs. LaMarcus Aldridge choosing San Antonio was predicted in January last year and Lowe is saying that the buzz of Durant treading the same path is reaching a similar crescendo.
In a recent Jalen and Jacoby podcast, Rose did not think it was possible. "I don't see that(Durant to Spurs) happening." He cited the recent press conference where Durant called Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban "an idiot" when he took a shot and called Westbrook "an all-star, not a superstar."
To Rose, this seemed like a confirmation that he's not going to leave Oklahoma. The bond between KD and Russ is different. He notes that LaMarcus Aldridge did not hold joint press conferences together with Damian Lillard (when they were both in Portland) the way the Thunder's superstars did. The analyst also stated that despite all the criticism, the legacy of Durant and Westbrook with OKC is established even if they win just one title.
Which prediction will hold true?
