The Durant Sweepstakes

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mcpickl

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Thanks for the clarification re: Westbrook's contract situation.

If I were OKC, I'd only be "deathly" afraid of Westbrook leaving if KD doesn't stay. If KD stays, I'd say that there's a pretty good chance that Westbrook stays.
I'd agree with this, if KD signs a longterm deal with OKC then I'd feel pretty secure that Westbrook has indicated to him he's going to stay as well. If KD signs the 2 yr deal with an opt-out next summer, I'd still be really concerned. If KD leaves now, I'd put the odds of Westbrook leaving next summer at near 100%.

My fear for this summer was that KD was going to go to the Lakers and Westbrook was going to tell OKC I'm going there next summer too, so you should probably trade me there now to get something back.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Delirium to think we have even a .001% chance. Good to get in the room with him though I suppose.......just don't know what good that does. My last post on Durant in Boston to both spare anyone who shares those delirious thoughts as well as not wasting keystrokes. ;)
 

Van Everyman

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I agree that it is probably super unlikely that Durrant considers Boston seriously. But it's interesting that of the teams that he's reportedly considering Los Angeles and New York are not in the mix and Boston is. That list suggests to me that his priorities are a little different from, say, Carmelo Anthony's.
 

jon abbey

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I agree that it is probably super unlikely that Durrant considers Boston seriously. But it's interesting that of the teams that he's reportedly considering Los Angeles and New York are not in the mix and Boston is. That list suggests to me that his priorities are a little different from, say, Carmelo Anthony's.
Coincidentally Melo and Durant evidently were at dinner together last night in NY, whatever that means (probably nothing):

http://nypost.com/2016/06/26/carmelo-and-kevin-durant-were-at-a-dinner-together-report/
 

NoXInNixon

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I guess it comes down to two factors, one which we can debate and one we really can't. First, what are the probabilities Durant will win at least one title contingent on him choosing each team he's considering? We can argue those numbers. But we can't debate how important it is to him that he is the no doubt best player on his team. If that's even somewhat important to him, and he can be convinced that the Celtics have a good enough chance to win with him, there's a decent chance.
 

tbrep

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As a neutral, I really hope he goes to Boston. It'd set up an awesome Lebron-Durant rivalry in the ECF for the next 3-4 years. And the West would still be loaded with the Warriors, Spurs and Clippers.

I can't fault Durant at all for choosing the Warriors but it would really suck from a competitive balance point of view. I wouldn't mind seeing him on the Spurs and that would make for a more compelling SA-GWS rivalry.
 

RedOctober3829

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I agree that it is probably super unlikely that Durrant considers Boston seriously. But it's interesting that of the teams that he's reportedly considering Los Angeles and New York are not in the mix and Boston is. That list suggests to me that his priorities are a little different from, say, Carmelo Anthony's.
Durant wouldn't be taking a meeting with any team unless he was serious about joining them. He's not wasting his time. I believe it's a long shot he ends up in Boston but I think it's more of a chance than I originally thought. Most teams have to sacrifice roster pieces to sign him except for Boston. The FA stigma means jack to me too. Different environment in organization than in the past and financially much more flexibility.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Durant wouldn't be taking a meeting with any team unless he was serious about joining them. He's not wasting his time. I believe it's a long shot he ends up in Boston but I think it's more of a chance than I originally thought. Most teams have to sacrifice roster pieces to sign him except for Boston. The FA stigma means jack to me too. Different environment in organization than in the past and financially much more flexibility.
Agreed.

And HRB, I don't think anyone here sees Durant as anything more than a long shot but its encouraging that he sees the Cs as a viable landing spot.
 

Eddie Jurak

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Agreed.

And HRB, I don't think anyone here sees Durant as anything more than a long shot but its encouraging that he sees the Cs as a viable landing spot.
Someone needs to make the Rocco Graziosa promise that they will eat a log of their own shot if Durant signs here. That worked well when Rocco did it in 2008.
 

Gash Prex

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It's pretty impressive we are getting a meeting - especially considering the other teams on the list.
 

DJnVa

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Which runs counter to what some folks (Broussard I think?) said last week, that he absolutely doesn't want to do this again next year.
 

Blacken

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If the choice is trusting Woj or Broussard, I'm taking Woj (unless it has to do with one of the teams he's got a long-standing grudge against, and that doesn't seem to be the case right now).
 

zenter

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If the choice is trusting Woj or Broussard, I'm taking Woj (unless it has to do with one of the teams he's got a long-standing grudge against, and that doesn't seem to be the case right now).
Who does Woj have a long-standing grudge against?
 

Blacken

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Who does Woj have a long-standing grudge against?
For some reason he seems to have a real hate-on for the Grizzlies (I wonder if it isn't just Hollinger though). I often wonder if he's a Thibs guy, too, given how hard he hacked at the Bulls once that relationship went bad.
 

Montana Fan

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For some reason he seems to have a real hate-on for the Grizzlies (I wonder if it isn't just Hollinger though). I often wonder if he's a Thibs guy, too, given how hard he hacked at the Bulls once that relationship went bad.
Must be the Bristol Central vs. New Britain High thing.
 

Swedgin

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If the choice is trusting Woj or Broussard, I'm taking Woj (unless it has to do with one of the teams he's got a long-standing grudge against, and that doesn't seem to be the case right now).
If its Chris "Mark Cuban is driving around Houston looking for Deandre Jordan's house" Broussard vs. a homeless guy who occasionally sleeps within a five mile radius of an NBA arena, I am taking the homeless guy.
 

mauf

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I didn't realize Broussard was the source for the report that KD wanted to sign a long-term deal this summer. Yup, this is much ado about nothing -- if he's going to sign a one-year deal, then all signs point to a return to OKC.
 

RedOctober3829

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I didn't realize Broussard was the source for the report that KD wanted to sign a long-term deal this summer. Yup, this is much ado about nothing -- if he's going to sign a one-year deal, then all signs point to a return to OKC.
He wasn't the primary source and it wasn't indicated that a long-term deal was the definite direction he'd be going. Yes, all signs point to an OKC return for all reasons we know.
 
If its Chris "Mark Cuban is driving around Houston looking for Deandre Jordan's house" Broussard vs. a homeless guy who occasionally sleeps within a five mile radius of an NBA arena, I am taking the homeless guy.
Sure. But if KD decides to go back to OKC and announces his decision by writing an open letter to SI with the help of Lee Jenkins and you someone to confirm it...Broussard is your guy.
 

Sam Ray Not

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What I don't get is if it's OKC (which everyone seems to agree is the most likely scenario), why this whole song and dance with multiple suitors, secret meetings in NY and LA, etc.? It's not like he needs any leverage -- he's getting the full max whatever he does. It's been a month since OKC was eliminated. Why hasn't he just said "I'm sticking around" or even "I'd like to stick around?"
 

BigSoxFan

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But I want him now! I'd be willing to bet that one of the suitors convinces him to leave.
 

mauf

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What I don't get is if it's OKC (which everyone seems to agree is the most likely scenario), why this whole song and dance with multiple suitors, secret meetings in NY and LA, etc.? It's not like he needs any leverage -- he's getting the full max whatever he does. It's been a month since OKC was eliminated. Why hasn't he just said "I'm sticking around" or even "I'd like to stick around?"
KD is meeting front-office folks who normally couldn't speak with him due to tampering rules. I can see why he might consider those meetings to be in his interest, even if he has already decided to return to OKC on a short-term deal.
 

Koufax

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If he's really trying to set himself up for 2017, he can discuss with GMs what their strategies are for years after this coming season.

My sense is that the Boston interview is the NBA equivalent of the courtesy interview for a job seeker. Nothing serious but he doesn't want to hurt DA's feelings.
 

DJnVa

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He wasn't the primary source
You sure? Others that reported this, did it based on Broussard.

Example:
But according to ESPN’s Chris Broussard, there are other issues that hadn’t previously been considered. Such as this: Broussard says that Durant doesn’t want to go through “this” again next year
Either way, it doesn't really matter...we'll know soon enough.
 

DJnVa

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If he's really trying to set himself up for 2017, he can discuss with GMs what their strategies are for years after this coming season.

My sense is that the Boston interview is the NBA equivalent of the courtesy interview for a job seeker. Nothing serious but he doesn't want to hurt DA's feelings.
Why does he care about hurting DA's feelings and not the feelings of two dozen other teams?
 

JakeRae

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If he's really trying to set himself up for 2017, he can discuss with GMs what their strategies are for years after this coming season.

My sense is that the Boston interview is the NBA equivalent of the courtesy interview for a job seeker. Nothing serious but he doesn't want to hurt DA's feelings.
There appears to be no basis for this sense of yours. All the evidence indicates the Durant has already eliminated all the teams he does not think are real options and is interviewing with teams he feels he might be interested in signing with. That still doesn't give the Celtics a great shot since it seems that at least OKC and GSW have stronger pitches, but the people who continue to claim the Celtics have no shot are not living in reality.
 

amfox1

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Durant is eligible to sign for $26.6mm next year, whether with OKC or another team.

Currently, BOS has $51.85mm in active contracts (including $17.00mm for Johnson and Jerebko) and $25.40mm in active cap holds. That leaves $16.75mm in cap room. For BOS to fit Durant into their roster, they will have to do the following:

Easy moves:
1. Release the cap holds on Turner and Datome ($4.45mm and $2.28mm, respectively).
2. Release Holland ($0.87mm).

That would give BOS $24.35mm in cap room, without cutting into muscle, let alone bone.

Renouncing the cap holds for Sullinger ($5.67mm) or Zeller ($6.54mm), or failing to pick up the July 3rd options of Johnson ($12.00mm) or Jerebko ($5.00mm), would clear the remaining room for Durant.

Renouncing all of these contracts would give BOS a total of $53.56mm in cap room, which would be just enough to sign both Durant and Horford to 1+1 max contracts (whereby both players would have player options for 2017-18, or could tear up those contracts and sign higher max contracts next summer). Keep in mind that, because the Johnson/Jerebko options are July 3rd, Durant and/or Horford would either need to make up his and/or their decision by then or the Celtics might be cutting players they might need if one or neither sign with Boston.

Resulting roster (assuming both Durant and Horford sign, Zizic remains in the US but Yabusele goes back to France for one more year):

C - Horford, Mickey, Zizic
PF - Crowder, Olynyk, Bentil
SF - Durant, Brown, Young
SG - Bradley, Smart, Hunter
PG - Thomas, Rozier, Jackson

+rights to Yabusele
 

Jed Zeppelin

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With the caveat that I don't expect Durant to ever sign here, pushing the long-term decision back a year slightly increases Boston's chances, particularly if you make a handful of assumptions about the current roster ranging from possible to best-case:
  • Brown flashes big-time potential as a rookie
  • Smart improves his jumper considerably
  • They maintain last year's positive vibes, sneak up to 50 wins and win a playoff series.
  • Brooklyn is a bottom 2 team and the freshman class delivers on its promise (pray for Harry Giles' knees)
None of this will have a direct impact on KD but would have a massive impact on our ability to make trades and such. Also, all of that stuff would be phenomenal with or without Durant. So...do that stuff.
 

Van Everyman

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That article makes me wonder: who are some of the difference makers out there who could be interesting targets for the C's if they get booted from their current team to make room for Durant? Blake Griffin?
 

jon abbey

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Durant makes $30M per year on his shoe deal. I don't think the difference between a $22M salary and a $26M salary will matter nearly as much to him as getting into whatever he thinks is the best basketball situation.
 

nighthob

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Durant is eligible to sign for $26.6mm next year, whether with OKC or another team.

Currently, BOS has $51.85mm in active contracts (including $17.00mm for Johnson and Jerebko) and $25.40mm in active cap holds. That leaves $16.75mm in cap room. For BOS to fit Durant into their roster, they will have to do the following:

Easy moves:
1. Release the cap holds on Turner and Datome ($4.45mm and $2.28mm, respectively).
2. Release Holland ($0.87mm).

That would give BOS $24.35mm in cap room, without cutting into muscle, let alone bone.

Renouncing the cap holds for Sullinger ($5.67mm) or Zeller ($6.54mm), or failing to pick up the July 3rd options of Johnson ($12.00mm) or Jerebko ($5.00mm), would clear the remaining room for Durant.

Renouncing all of these contracts would give BOS a total of $53.56mm in cap room, which would be just enough to sign both Durant and Horford to 1+1 max contracts (whereby both players would have player options for 2017-18, or could tear up those contracts and sign higher max contracts next summer). Keep in mind that, because the Johnson/Jerebko options are July 3rd, Durant and/or Horford would either need to make up his and/or their decision by then or the Celtics might be cutting players they might need if one or neither sign with Boston.
You can just pencil in the renouncing of the Turner, Datome, and Zeller. As Turner is going to make gobs more than his cap hold, there's no point in keeping his hold on the books (same with all the other cap holds that have never been renounced, if Boston gets a commitment from Durant they're all vanishing). I doubt they have much interest in bringing Zeller back if he's going to cost more than that and doubt that they'd have any use for him past next year (since they likely sign Zizic the ensuing summer).
 

zenter

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same with all the other cap holds that have never been renounced
As I understand it (and someone can correct me if I'm wrong), the fun historic cap holds all automagically evaporated last summer when the Cs fell below the cap for the first time in like a dozen years. IOW, they were auto-renounced. Not much renouncing paperwork to do this time around.
 

DJnVa

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nighthob

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As I understand it (and someone can correct me if I'm wrong), the fun historic cap holds all automagically evaporated last summer when the Cs fell below the cap for the first time in like a dozen years. IOW, they were auto-renounced. Not much renouncing paperwork to do this time around.
Right, I forgot about them renouncing Dana Barros last summer. In any event Datome and Turner are definitely being renounced and Zeller almost certainly.
 

Devizier

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What I don't get is if it's OKC (which everyone seems to agree is the most likely scenario), why this whole song and dance with multiple suitors, secret meetings in NY and LA, etc.? It's not like he needs any leverage -- he's getting the full max whatever he does. It's been a month since OKC was eliminated. Why hasn't he just said "I'm sticking around" or even "I'd like to stick around?"
Maybe because he's trying to strong arm the OKC front office into making some short term moves on his behalf.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Bobby Marks of The Vertical calls the Celtics the most appealing destination for Durant outside of OKC.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/front-office-insider--kevin-durant-s-options-184021631.html?soc_src=mediacontentsharebuttons&soc_trk=tw
Why he is he quoting Boston as having $16M in cap space? They're at $52M with a $94M cap and they have another $17m in non guaranteed deals in AJ and JJ. Bare minimum they have $42M or am I missing something? Even accounting for cap holds doesn't eat that much up.
 

JakeRae

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Why he is he quoting Boston as having $16M in cap space? They're at $52M with a $94M cap and they have another $17m in non guaranteed deals in AJ and JJ. Bare minimum they have $42M or am I missing something? Even accounting for cap holds doesn't eat that much up.
Reading the whole thread often helps.

Durant is eligible to sign for $26.6mm next year, whether with OKC or another team.

Currently, BOS has $51.85mm in active contracts (including $17.00mm for Johnson and Jerebko) and $25.40mm in active cap holds. That leaves $16.75mm in cap room. For BOS to fit Durant into their roster, they will have to do the following:

Easy moves:
1. Release the cap holds on Turner and Datome ($4.45mm and $2.28mm, respectively).
2. Release Holland ($0.87mm).

That would give BOS $24.35mm in cap room, without cutting into muscle, let alone bone.

Renouncing the cap holds for Sullinger ($5.67mm) or Zeller ($6.54mm), or failing to pick up the July 3rd options of Johnson ($12.00mm) or Jerebko ($5.00mm), would clear the remaining room for Durant.

Renouncing all of these contracts would give BOS a total of $53.56mm in cap room, which would be just enough to sign both Durant and Horford to 1+1 max contracts (whereby both players would have player options for 2017-18, or could tear up those contracts and sign higher max contracts next summer). Keep in mind that, because the Johnson/Jerebko options are July 3rd, Durant and/or Horford would either need to make up his and/or their decision by then or the Celtics might be cutting players they might need if one or neither sign with Boston.

Resulting roster (assuming both Durant and Horford sign, Zizic remains in the US but Yabusele goes back to France for one more year):

C - Horford, Mickey, Zizic
PF - Crowder, Olynyk, Bentil
SF - Durant, Brown, Young
SG - Bradley, Smart, Hunter
PG - Thomas, Rozier, Jackson

+rights to Yabusele
 

Cellar-Door

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Why he is he quoting Boston as having $16M in cap space? They're at $52M with a $94M cap and they have another $17m in non guaranteed deals in AJ and JJ. Bare minimum they have $42M or am I missing something? Even accounting for cap holds doesn't eat that much up.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/bos/salary
basically, they have something around $35M in deals, plus AJ and JJ puts it at 52, plus 23 or so in cap holds for Turner, Zeller, Sully, and the 3 1sts. that puts them around 75. So I think he is off by a bit and it is closer to 18M, but pretty close.
Stashing Yabusele and Zizic saves 2.7
If they renounce Turner and the two restricted it saves: 16.7 or so more.
Then you can take out the AJ and JJ and get 17 more.
So they could hypothetically max out at 53-55.

The one problem is that they have to decide on AJ and JJ very quickly. They have to be officially released before July 3rd. which is a Sunday, so realistically by Thursday or Friday. They can't even talk to Durant until Friday, so the decision has to be made before they meet him likely.
I would guess they pick both up, figuring if they need the cap room for a 2nd guy like Horford they can get someone to bite on those deals in this market.

Edit- I also missed the 25.4M in the article, but whatever eyeballing it came up similarly.
 
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