Did the warriors dodge a bullet by not signing Durant?

[CelticsElite]

He will come back at 32 and recovering from an Achilles injury

Achilles is unforgiving and so is father time

The nets will be crossing their fingers for the next 3 years hoping Durant comes back to form

[Who]

They could've started Durant at center. They would have been fine.

He is big enough and skilled enough to survive a large loss in explosive quickness and agility ... and still be a dominant player in the NBA.

[hpantazo]

I think so. He's old, it's a tough injury to return from, particularly for a taller player, and he also had a history of foot injuries in the past. All signs point to his lower legs/feet breaking down from the continuous stress he puts on them with his game and body size imo.

The Nets took a big gamble on signing him and getting Deandre Jordan too.

[ETNCeltics]

I don't think they would've resigned him, regardless of his injury or where he wanted to stay or not. The luxury tax would have been to a degree the league has never seen.

[hpantazo]

I don't think they would've resigned him, regardless of his injury or where he wanted to stay or not. The luxury tax would have been to a degree the league has never seen.

They reportedly offered him the full max. He turned it down.

[ETNCeltics]

I don't think they would've resigned him, regardless of his injury or where he wanted to stay or not. The luxury tax would have been to a degree the league has never seen.

They reportedly offered him the full max. He turned it down.

Yeah, I've read that and don't believe it (or else they were paying Durant and letting KT walk). No way they were paying $350 million in payroll.

[jambr380]

Talent-wise, I think he will be just fine - not unbelievable, but at a lower-end max range player. I agree that they definitely dodged the luxury tax bullet, though. They wouldn't even be among the favorites to win next year and would have been paying an astronomical amount of money for the honor of going to WCSF.

[petbrick]

The idea of "dodging a bullet" by having the luxury of signing a player who is in all likelihood going to return as a better version of 2011 Dirk to a team with three other NBA All-Stars is a bit ludicrous, to be honest.

[GreenFaith1819]

At worst, Slim Reaper will go from being top 1 or 2 in the NBA to top 10...I seriously doubt he will lose much.

His skillset will carry him far. Additionally - he showed me IMMENSE toughness by attempting to play in the condition he was in..

Make no mistake about it GSW will miss him and BOS will have our hands full with both him and Kyrie.

[tazzmaniac]

I don't think they would've resigned him, regardless of his injury or where he wanted to stay or not. The luxury tax would have been to a degree the league has never seen.

They reportedly offered him the full max. He turned it down.

Yeah, I've read that and don't believe it (or else they were paying Durant and letting KT walk). No way they were paying $350 million in payroll.

They Maxed out KT and acquired Russell who is making 27M.  They most certainly would have Maxed out KT and signed KD for 38M instead.  They were never going to pay 350M.  Getting rid of Iggy and Livingston saved them big bucks. 

[liam]

I would say maybe to this question. It will totally depend on how well Durant comes back. The Achilles is the worst injury to come back from....

[Diggles]

I don't think they would've resigned him, regardless of his injury or where he wanted to stay or not. The luxury tax would have been to a degree the league has never seen.

They reportedly offered him the full max. He turned it down.

Yeah, I've read that and don't believe it (or else they were paying Durant and letting KT walk). No way they were paying $350 million in payroll.

This!   And the only way to find out is to wait and see.   They will either Dodge it, bite it or it grazes them. LOL

They Maxed out KT and acquired Russell who is making 27M.  They most certainly would have Maxed out KT and signed KD for 38M instead.  They were never going to pay 350M.  Getting rid of Iggy and Livingston saved them big bucks.

[bopna]

He will still be giving them 24/6/4 atleast but he will be slower on defense that's for sure, less explosive but very much still an AS.. I'd say he will still be worth it.

[keevsnick]

Even if he loses like 15% of what he once was he's still an all star level player.

So no.

[gpap]

It's hard to answer this question, considering the Warriors forced Durant to play, while it was clear he wasn't ready.

So, they forced him into that position

If I really wanted to be cynical, I would venture to say they knew he was going to leave, so they didn't care about his health.

And Bob Myers' fake tears....please!