contemplating the Kevin Durant era

[arctic 3.0]

Kevin Durant, what can you say 29 straight games of 25 points or more a PER above 25.
Kid is IT.
If i was a basketball fan in Seattle i'd be inconsolable.
Fortunately I'm not a Sonics fan i'm a Celtics fan. So, is there any way we can get that kid in Celtics green?
I understand that he has a player? option in 2011.
what would we need to do to create enough cap space to land him.

[buellj814]

keep dreaming, sorry!

[JSD]

Kevin Durant, what can you say 29 straight games of 25 points or more a PER above 25.
Kid is IT.
If i was a basketball fan in Seattle i'd be inconsolable.
Fortunately I'm not a Sonics fan i'm a Celtics fan. So, is there any way we can get that kid in Celtics green?
I understand that he has a player? option in 2011.
what would we need to do to create enough cap space to land him.

No player option in 2011... However, if he doesn't sign an extension he will be an unrestricted free agent in 2012-- the same year KG and Sheed come off the books and allow us cap space for the first time since the Pitino era.

Still, with Bird rights the Thunder will be able to offer over $15 million more than any other team. So it's unlikely he hits the market.

[Chris]

We can not renew anyone, and then hope that he hates it enough in OKC to leave.  But even then, we would have to wait until 2012, since he will be a restricted FA in 2011, and OKC would match anything.  And with the new CBA, it really is tough to know what will happen.

My guess is he will actually sign a max extension this summer, in order to avoid missing out on a ton of money when the new CBA comes out.  Unless he really hates OKC, he would be likely be leaving tens of millions of dollars on the table if he holds out until 2011 or 2012 to sign with someone.

[droopdog7]

KD is a fantastic scorer but I am not convinced he is anything else. But yeah, I'd take him.

[MBz]

KD is a fantastic scorer but I am not convinced he is anything else. But yeah, I'd take him.

You must not be watching him then.  He is better then any one on the Celtics roster right now and that is FACT.

[Fafnir]

KD is a fantastic scorer but I am not convinced he is anything else. But yeah, I'd take him.

You must not be watching him then.  He is better then any one on the Celtics roster right now and that is FACT.

The question is will he become a truly special player, or does he become Tracy McGrady?

[Greenbean]

KD is a fantastic scorer but I am not convinced he is anything else. But yeah, I'd take him.

You must not be watching him then.  He is better then any one on the Celtics roster right now and that is FACT.

The question is will he become a truly special player, or does he become Tracy McGrady?

He's already better than TMac ever was only because of how easily and effieciently he scores. TMac dominated the ball. Durant can put up 25 in his sleep.

Defensively he will get better as he grows into his body a bit more. He's 21!

[Chris]

KD is a fantastic scorer but I am not convinced he is anything else. But yeah, I'd take him.

You must not be watching him then.  He is better then any one on the Celtics roster right now and that is FACT.

The question is will he become a truly special player, or does he become Tracy McGrady?

I am always up for a Tmac joke, but I do think you are selling him short a bit.  If Tmac had stayed healthy, and had some luck with teammates staying healthy, I think he would be looked at very differently. 

[PLamb]

We had our chance at Kevin Durant back in the spring of 2007 but for some reason those ping pong balls wanted all the talent in that draft to be sent to the American northwest

We instead ended up with Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Banner #17

Fair enough trade in my opinion

Expecting Kevin Durant in 2012 is the equivalent of taking an elevator ride with Jessica Biel, smiling at her and then expecting her to call you for a date

Yeah, it might happen in a dream but in reality, it's pretty much not going to happen

[Who]

I think Durant is a lock to resign with Oklahoma.

[Fafnir]

KD is a fantastic scorer but I am not convinced he is anything else. But yeah, I'd take him.

You must not be watching him then.  He is better then any one on the Celtics roster right now and that is FACT.

The question is will he become a truly special player, or does he become Tracy McGrady?

He's already better than TMac ever was only because of how easily and effieciently he scores. TMac dominated the ball. Durant can put up 25 in his sleep.

Defensively he will get better as he grows into his body a bit more. He's 21!

I think you're forgetting just how good McGrady was. Also both dominate the ball.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=1&p1=mcgratr01&y1=2001&p2=duranke01&y2=2010

They're very similar players at age 21. Now McGrady was taking less shots and playing less minutes, but glance at the per36 numbers. Durant is a more efficient scorer, but McGrady had some pluses to his game to over Durant.

[LarBrd33]

Kevin Durant, what can you say 29 straight games of 25 points or more a PER above 25.
Kid is IT.
If i was a basketball fan in Seattle i'd be inconsolable.
Fortunately I'm not a Sonics fan i'm a Celtics fan. So, is there any way we can get that kid in Celtics green?
I understand that he has a player? option in 2011.
what would we need to do to create enough cap space to land him.

I live in Seattle.   Seattle fans were apathetic when the Sonics left and now that they are gone they are (in general) completely oblivious to what they lost.  If you asked 10 random Seattleites who Kevin Durant is... I'd be surprised if half of them would know.   They lost that team for a reason.

I considered making this custom jersey and wearing it around to mess with these losers, but I don't think anyone would really give a crap.



At my Halloween work party, my boss showed up wearing a full Sonics outfit as his costume... Ray Allen jersey, warmups, headbands, sneakers... etc.  I went up to him and joked, "... Nice zombie costume"... we then started talking about how he use to have season tickets.  The conversation turned to Durant.  He goes, "he's ok, but he has terrible shot selection and he's way too skinny".   I suddenly realized... he was thinking of Durant from his rookie year and had no idea what the kid was currently doing in Oklahoma City.  He didn't even believe me when I said the Thunder had a winning record....  So there you have it.   Even the former fans are oblivious to what's going on.

Durant is dominant. Top 5 player.  That team is a top 10 team and their only big man is nenad krystic.   Scary good potential for that squad if they ever cash in their chips (i'm convinced they could have had amare if they wanted him, but figured they'd hold onto their assets and wait another year).    I'd love Durant in Boston some day, but I think he's really enjoying playing there.

[Fafnir]

KD is a fantastic scorer but I am not convinced he is anything else. But yeah, I'd take him.

You must not be watching him then.  He is better then any one on the Celtics roster right now and that is FACT.

The question is will he become a truly special player, or does he become Tracy McGrady?

I am always up for a Tmac joke, but I do think you are selling him short a bit.  If Tmac had stayed healthy, and had some luck with teammates staying healthy, I think he would be looked at very differently. 

I'm not joking though, T-Mac had the same potential Durant does. Looking at the numbers its striking how very similar they were at age 21.

T-Mac is just the example about how a talent like Durant can easily end up not accomplishing all that people say is "inevitable" for him. He'll be an all star a lot, he'll get paid a lot, but that doesn't mean he'll accomplish a lot in the league.

A back injury, a bad team, or many other things can derail a promising career.

[droopdog7]

KD is a fantastic scorer but I am not convinced he is anything else. But yeah, I'd take him.

You must not be watching him then.  He is better then any one on the Celtics roster right now and that is FACT.

The question is will he become a truly special player, or does he become Tracy McGrady?

He's already better than TMac ever was only because of how easily and effieciently he scores. TMac dominated the ball. Durant can put up 25 in his sleep.

Defensively he will get better as he grows into his body a bit more. He's 21!

Sure, KD may already be a better scorer than TMac was but that is not the point.  And I think that you partly made my point in your post.  From what I have seen, KD gets his points quietly.  You don't think he is doing much but you look up and he has 25.  But, he has not consistently shown the ability (or willingness) to dominate a game, especially in crunch time.

And yes, I am judging KD against greatness.  LeBron, in addition to being a physical freak, is a fantastic passer; better than many PG's.  In the last few years, he has become monster on D and started to dominate the end of games.

Kobe and MJ (who are similar) had the killer instinct that no one else had.  Each could score at will (and I would say at least as good as KD) but they could also defend.  Both were better passers than they were ever given credit for.

KD can get 25 in sleep.  But we knew than coming in.  The question becomes, will he develop in other areas to reach the greatness of these other guys.  Or, will be become the next TMac/Dominique Wilkens?

We'll see.