Kevin Durant Out This Season (Photo : REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)
The Golden State Warriors might be plotting a big coup aimed to attract the biggest free-agent in the summer of 2016 - Kevin Durant. Mychal Thompson, the father of Warriors All-Star shooting guard Klay Thompson, believed the Dubs are seriously zeroing in on their former NBA MVP as their top target when the cap space triples the following summer.
The Warriors have just become the latest team expressing interest in making a hard run at Durant when his contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder expires at the end of the 2015-16 season.
While they are so far enjoying their best campaign since the Run TMC era, the Warriors are still looking to add more firepower to their lineup as they compete with the Miami Heat, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Washington Wizards and the Thunder for the service of the explosive scoring wingman.
In an interview with ESPN Los Angeles, Thompson talked about the Warriors future plans and divulged the worst-kept secret within the organization: their intention in making a serious chase for Durant in 2016.
"I also heard it on good authority from a team that plays in the Bay Area that they're going to go hard after Kevin Durant," said Thompson.
Durant, who is coming off perhaps the worst year after going through a myriad of injuries (including a foot injury that shortened not only his season but his team as well), will become an unrestricted free-agent at the end of the 2015-16 season. He's expected to be the alpha-dog of a very loaded free-agency class, and the fact is validated by massive attention he's garnering from multiple teams this early in the process.
Does Durant to Warriors Scenario Have Legs?
It would be very premature at this point to tell if the Warriors are really legit contenders for Durant. After all, the former NBA MVP cleared that he remains committed in helping the Thunder back to elite status and hopefully playing the rest of his career with the team that drafted him no.2 overall in 2007.
NBA insiders, on the other hand, aren't buying Durant's remark on being a Thunder for life. They are very confident that when the lucrative offers start pilling up on his desk and the opportunity becomes bigger outside Oklahoma, the four-time scoring champion will make a decision that benefits him the most.
With the salary cap expected to sky rocket in 2016, all teams around the association are going to have the resources they need to accommodate a lucrative star player. Durant, despite his recent setback, is still pegged at a very pricey value because of the massive skills-set he brings to the table.
The Warriors, who already boast the most potent backcourt tandem in the NBA in Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, are certainly capable of adding Durant into their equation on financial aspect, but in order for them to beat out the competition, they would have to prove that a championship is achievable over the next two years.
If the Warriors were able to win a title or reach deep in the playoffs now and next season, this team would surely have an edge over the rest in the Durant sweepstakes. However, a back-to-back postseason disappointment, no matter how good their regular-season record would be next season, will instantly kill their bid for Durant.
It's tough to imagine Durant signing with a team that would just put him in a very same situation as he is at right now with the Thunder. At this phase of his career, Durant only cares about winning, and that he shall pursue a year from now.
