Durant

[Enzzo]

I never thought there'd be a guy as good as James playing at the same time as him.  But this guy Durant, is coming close to making a case. I figured he'd average 30+ without Westbrook, but I didn't think he'd still be this efficient. Not to mention the gradual improvement in his playmaking.

Not only has he maintained his efficiency in Westbrook's absence - he's improved it.

The cynic in me says it's easy to do well when you're playing 5 on 8.

8 on 5?

OKC's starting 5 + 3 officials.

That's great.

[pearljammer10]

I hope he gets MVP this yr.

He deserves it. Dudes been silly this year, especially in January.

[saltlover]

He's a free agent the year Wallace's contract comes off the books.  Forget going after Kevin Love in 2015 -- keep Rondo and get development from Sullinger and one or two draft picks (like Embiid), while keeping salary room to add KD in 2016, and that's an actual championship team.

I understand I'm dreaming, and am not really advocating putting all the Celtics eggs in the Kevin Durant basket, but I could handle a couple years in the wilderness if it resulted in 4 years of Kevin Durant and Rondo together in what would still be the primes of their careers.

[Enzzo]

He's a free agent the year Wallace's contract comes off the books.  Forget going after Kevin Love in 2015 -- keep Rondo and get development from Sullinger and one or two draft picks (like Embiid), while keeping salary room to add KD in 2016, and that's an actual championship team.

I understand I'm dreaming, and am not really advocating putting all the Celtics eggs in the Kevin Durant basket, but I could handle a couple years in the wilderness if it resulted in 4 years of Kevin Durant and Rondo together in what would still be the primes of their careers.

I don't think any Celtics fan would disagree with that. But do you think OKC and Durant are going to cut ties? I see Durant as a loyal franchise player. I don't see him jumping ship and I expect OKC to do everything they can to keep him.

Do you think we could ever make enough of a statement to get him in green?

[Vox_Populi]

He's a free agent the year Wallace's contract comes off the books.  Forget going after Kevin Love in 2015 -- keep Rondo and get development from Sullinger and one or two draft picks (like Embiid), while keeping salary room to add KD in 2016, and that's an actual championship team.

I understand I'm dreaming, and am not really advocating putting all the Celtics eggs in the Kevin Durant basket, but I could handle a couple years in the wilderness if it resulted in 4 years of Kevin Durant and Rondo together in what would still be the primes of their careers.

I don't think any Celtics fan would disagree with that. But do you think OKC and Durant are going to cut ties? I see Durant as a loyal franchise player. I don't see him jumping ship and I expect OKC to do everything they can to keep him.

Do you think we could ever make enough of a statement to get him in green?

Yeah, I don't think KD would ever be interested in leaving OKC. Provided they don't move another one of his guys. He hated the Harden trade. If for some reason, Westbrook or Ibaka are moved, then he might start feeling restless.

[JBcat]

He's a free agent the year Wallace's contract comes off the books.  Forget going after Kevin Love in 2015 -- keep Rondo and get development from Sullinger and one or two draft picks (like Embiid), while keeping salary room to add KD in 2016, and that's an actual championship team.

I understand I'm dreaming, and am not really advocating putting all the Celtics eggs in the Kevin Durant basket, but I could handle a couple years in the wilderness if it resulted in 4 years of Kevin Durant and Rondo together in what would still be the primes of their careers.

I don't think any Celtics fan would disagree with that. But do you think OKC and Durant are going to cut ties? I see Durant as a loyal franchise player. I don't see him jumping ship and I expect OKC to do everything they can to keep him.

Do you think we could ever make enough of a statement to get him in green?

The same thing could have been said about KG being loyal to the Wolves back in the day.  However the Thunder right now seem to be in a much better situation than KG ever was with the Wolves.

[saltlover]

He's a free agent the year Wallace's contract comes off the books.  Forget going after Kevin Love in 2015 -- keep Rondo and get development from Sullinger and one or two draft picks (like Embiid), while keeping salary room to add KD in 2016, and that's an actual championship team.

I understand I'm dreaming, and am not really advocating putting all the Celtics eggs in the Kevin Durant basket, but I could handle a couple years in the wilderness if it resulted in 4 years of Kevin Durant and Rondo together in what would still be the primes of their careers.

I don't think any Celtics fan would disagree with that. But do you think OKC and Durant are going to cut ties? I see Durant as a loyal franchise player. I don't see him jumping ship and I expect OKC to do everything they can to keep him.

Do you think we could ever make enough of a statement to get him in green?

Yeah, I don't think KD would ever be interested in leaving OKC. Provided they don't move another one of his guys. He hated the Harden trade. If for some reason, Westbrook or Ibaka are moved, then he might start feeling restless.

Again, I'm mostly dreaming.  But if OKC doesn't win a title in the next three years, or maybe can't even get to the finals because the West is so tough, I could see him at least looking around.  And if in that same time Rondo's returned to all-star form, Sully makes the all-star team as a reserve in his fourth year, and Embiid was a Celtic and looked like he could be the second coming of Hakeem, we'd have to be a very attractive destination. 

Again, dreaming.  (Although I am a fan of not trading away 1st rounders to shed contracts, and waiting to attack free agency in 2016 instead of 2015 if you can get Rondo to buy in and not leave in 2015 before then.  Maybe it's because I'm not excited about love coming here, and Portland is doing too well for Aldridge to leave at this point.  So yes, give me 2016, and the development of our young players.  With all the picks we have, we should be able to draft a future star in the next two years, who will still be cost-controlled in 2016.

[Enzzo]

He's a free agent the year Wallace's contract comes off the books.  Forget going after Kevin Love in 2015 -- keep Rondo and get development from Sullinger and one or two draft picks (like Embiid), while keeping salary room to add KD in 2016, and that's an actual championship team.

I understand I'm dreaming, and am not really advocating putting all the Celtics eggs in the Kevin Durant basket, but I could handle a couple years in the wilderness if it resulted in 4 years of Kevin Durant and Rondo together in what would still be the primes of their careers.

I don't think any Celtics fan would disagree with that. But do you think OKC and Durant are going to cut ties? I see Durant as a loyal franchise player. I don't see him jumping ship and I expect OKC to do everything they can to keep him.

Do you think we could ever make enough of a statement to get him in green?

The same thing could have been said about KG being loyal to the Wolves back in the day.  However the Thunder right now seem to be in a much better situation than KG ever was with the Wolves.

This is true. But like you said, they're in a much better position than the wolves when KG was there. We're talking about a team that has a very legitimate shot at going to the finals again and the KG era twolves.

The twolves weren't bad, they were always a playoff team and I belive they went to the finals once in the early 2000's, but still can't really compare to OKC.

[saltlover]

He's a free agent the year Wallace's contract comes off the books.  Forget going after Kevin Love in 2015 -- keep Rondo and get development from Sullinger and one or two draft picks (like Embiid), while keeping salary room to add KD in 2016, and that's an actual championship team.

I understand I'm dreaming, and am not really advocating putting all the Celtics eggs in the Kevin Durant basket, but I could handle a couple years in the wilderness if it resulted in 4 years of Kevin Durant and Rondo together in what would still be the primes of their careers.

I don't think any Celtics fan would disagree with that. But do you think OKC and Durant are going to cut ties? I see Durant as a loyal franchise player. I don't see him jumping ship and I expect OKC to do everything they can to keep him.

Do you think we could ever make enough of a statement to get him in green?

The same thing could have been said about KG being loyal to the Wolves back in the day.  However the Thunder right now seem to be in a much better situation than KG ever was with the Wolves.

This is true. But like you said, they're in a much better position than the wolves when KG was there. We're talking about a team that has a very legitimate shot at going to the finals again and the KG era twolves.

The twolves weren't bad, they were always a playoff team and I belive they went to the finals once in the early 2000's, but still can't really compare to OKC.

But suppose OKC doesn't make it to the finals again until he hits free agency.  The West is very strong, and it's not a given that OKC will get through any year.  If that happens, it will have been 5 years since they made it to the finals.  Tough to say what could happen.  So in the meantime, I'll dream about Durant on the C's -- it's a happier future than the present we're looking at, so what's the harm?

[Enzzo]

He's a free agent the year Wallace's contract comes off the books.  Forget going after Kevin Love in 2015 -- keep Rondo and get development from Sullinger and one or two draft picks (like Embiid), while keeping salary room to add KD in 2016, and that's an actual championship team.

I understand I'm dreaming, and am not really advocating putting all the Celtics eggs in the Kevin Durant basket, but I could handle a couple years in the wilderness if it resulted in 4 years of Kevin Durant and Rondo together in what would still be the primes of their careers.

I don't think any Celtics fan would disagree with that. But do you think OKC and Durant are going to cut ties? I see Durant as a loyal franchise player. I don't see him jumping ship and I expect OKC to do everything they can to keep him.

Do you think we could ever make enough of a statement to get him in green?

The same thing could have been said about KG being loyal to the Wolves back in the day.  However the Thunder right now seem to be in a much better situation than KG ever was with the Wolves.

This is true. But like you said, they're in a much better position than the wolves when KG was there. We're talking about a team that has a very legitimate shot at going to the finals again and the KG era twolves.

The twolves weren't bad, they were always a playoff team and I belive they went to the finals once in the early 2000's, but still can't really compare to OKC.

But suppose OKC doesn't make it to the finals again until he hits free agency.  The West is very strong, and it's not a given that OKC will get through any year.  If that happens, it will have been 5 years since they made it to the finals.  Tough to say what could happen.  So in the meantime, I'll dream about Durant on the C's -- it's a happier future than the present we're looking at, so what's the harm?

That's a completely valid argument. With a guy that's averaging almost 40 PPG in the past ten games, he deserves to be on a winning team. I think it really depends on whether OKC is going to get him the backup he needs to pull it off. I could be wrong, but I feel like Durant is too tied to OKC to just leave. But again, there's only so much waiting one can do.

Oh and trust me with the dreaming about it, I do it all the time. I can see him at his home in OKC watching the Pierce/KG tributes thinking "What a organization, 2016 I'll be a Boston Celtic. I'll also give a shoutout to Enzzo on the CelticsBlog forums for being so ******* awesome"

Don't rule it out, it could happen.

[CelticG1]

Hey to say it but lebron is pretty much on another level than him.

Winning a Derrick Rose type MVP doesnt do much for me.

I mean, hes been incredible but Lebron is just better than him

[PhoSita]

Just watched the highlights of Durant's most recent game against the Hawks.

Mainly I felt bad for Demarre Carroll.  Durant got away with a TON of offensive fouls using his hands / elbows to push off of Carroll.

[Endless Paradise]

Hey to say it but lebron is pretty much on another level than him.

Winning a Derrick Rose type MVP doesnt do much for me.

I mean, hes been incredible but Lebron is just better than him

He's been better than LeBron by almost every metric and advanced stat out there.  LeBron's the better player until proven otherwise, but it's pretty silly to disparage this as a "Derrick Rose type MVP" as though he'd only win it due to voter fatigue and LeBron falling out of favor.  If Durant wins it this year, it'll be because he earned it by playing as the most valuable player in the league.  LeBron's better than him, but Durant's the best player this season so far.

This award is KD's to lose right now - not LeBron's.

[saltlover]

Hey to say it but lebron is pretty much on another level than him.

Winning a Derrick Rose type MVP doesnt do much for me.

I mean, hes been incredible but Lebron is just better than him

He's been better than LeBron by almost every metric and advanced stat out there.  LeBron's the better player until proven otherwise, but it's pretty silly to disparage this as a "Derrick Rose type MVP" as though he'd only win it due to voter fatigue and LeBron falling out of favor.  If Durant wins it this year, it'll be because he earned it by playing as the most valuable player in the league.  LeBron's better than him, but Durant's the best player this season so far.

This award is KD's to lose right now - not LeBron's.

I agree that it wouldn't be a Derrick Rose award at this point, but an argument can definitely be made that LeBron is still having the better year.  LeBron is still averaging 26 points a game on 58% from the field.  That's incredibly efficient for the amount he's scoring.  Also 1 more assist per game than KD.

I think the MVP race still has to be decided between those two.  But Durant's putting up legitimately great numbers, no two ways about it.

[D.o.s.]

Personally, I can't wait for the 2014 edition of the NBA blogosphere's "The MVP award is silly and dumb and no one can really agree on what it means so here's 5,000 words about it."