Warriors players don't understand why the team would need to add Kevin Durant
If the best team ever ain't broke, don't fix it
By
Matt Moore
•
3 min read
Even as the Warriors advanced over the Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games to the NBA Finals, and as they take a 2-0 series lead in search of their repeat championships, rumors persist regarding the viability and likelihood of Golden State adding Kevin Durant this summer.
There are a whole host of reasons why this is unlikely to happen from Durant's end (which we'll get to in a second), but one question that pops up after the obvious "Man, the Warriors would just destroy everyone if they got Durant" is "Do the Warriors really need Durant?" After all, you can say the Warriors would vanquish every living thing in their path if they added the top-five player to their roster. Then again, they won 73 games, lost just two games in the first two rounds and look well on their way to embarrassing LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers in the Finals.
How much better can they actually get? And is that worth disrupting how great this team is with this specific group of guys?
It's also not just fans and pundits wondering that. NBA.com spoke with Andrew Bogut, who confirmed the same for how the Warriors feel about the idea of adding Durant.
To put it simply, their question is "Why?"
"Guys have definitely asked questions," center Andrew Bogut told NBA.com. "We're not immune to it. We've seen it. We've seen the rumors, heard the rumors, all that kind of stuff. Different guys at different times have been scratching their head and thinking, 'Why?' The only way we can dispel all that stuff is maybe we've got to win five straight. Who knows? It's one of those things we can't really control, but we can control trying to make them make a tough decision."
It clearly hasn't been a problem that's reached the level of distraction -- again, check the Warriors' recent resume -- but the potential of a major roster jolt to the best team in the league, even for Durant, has been on players' minds.
"Guys obviously ask questions at certain times," Bogut said. "We've had two good years. Guys definitely find it interesting. But we understand that it's a business and you're not going to be able to stop. If an owner or a GM wants to do something, they're going to do it."
Source: Durant out of the playoffs but still on Warriors' minds | NBA.com.
The way Bogut makes it sound, the Warriors aren't exactly excited about the idea of reshaping their team, which would be necessary, to add Durant. They have a good thing going. They have great chemistry. Bogut, and some of the other Warriors, are veterans. They know how fleeting good chemistry can be, how special this group is.
But the Warriors have to consider that this particular team won't be in this position forever. Bogut is getting older and unless he signs an extension he'll be a free agent next summer. Same thing for Andre Iguodala. The Warriors have to pay Steph Curry the max contract they are fortunate not to be paying him right now. Getting Durant secures their future contention no matter what. It removes the necessity of maintaining the beautiful, ephemeral flow that this particular team has created, and replaces it with pure talent.
For Durant's part, he developed a pretty healthy dislike for the Warriors in their seven-game series. From the adulation for Curry, to Draymond Green's karate antics, Durant did not seem to walk away with the kind of admiration for Golden State that say, Iguodala did after his first-round loss to the Warriors in 2013. That, coupled with Durant's desire to not be the Clyde Drexler to Curry's Olajuwon, may be enough to keep him out of the Bay.
But the situation will certainly be interesting to watch this summer. For more on Durant and this summer's free agency bonanza, check out our top 50 Free Agents list.
