Durant comments on Boston Celtics and City of Boston

[Ilikesports17]

It'll have to be a Ray Allen situation.. AKA we sign Horford to lure Durant. Without Horford we have no chance of landing Durant, at least with the pieces we have currently.

You gotta assume coming to the East has some sort of appeal, KD can instantly go from a 3-5 seed in the west to a #1 seed in the East. The only other scenario that is better for him is GSW but I don't see him being the type of player to go to the best team just to win.

In my opinion this is easily a #1 seed in the East.
Horford
Durant
Crowder
Bradley
IT

Horford is the Key or Drummond.

The nice thing is that, as we did when we got Allen, we have a top 5 pick this year.

I could definitely see it being moved to pick up a quasi-star to entice Durant

[manl_lui]

It'll have to be a Ray Allen situation.. AKA we sign Horford to lure Durant. Without Horford we have no chance of landing Durant, at least with the pieces we have currently.

You gotta assume coming to the East has some sort of appeal, KD can instantly go from a 3-5 seed in the west to a #1 seed in the East. The only other scenario that is better for him is GSW but I don't see him being the type of player to go to the best team just to win.

In my opinion this is easily a #1 seed in the East.
Horford
Durant
Crowder
Bradley
IT

Horford is the Key or Drummond.

i like both but I think Horford gives us a better shot at Durant since I read on an article Horford is on his shortlist of players he wants to play with. I am fine with either, but I think getting Horford to get Durant puts us in a win-now situation whereas Drummond wouldn't guarantee us Durant and he would be another building block to a longer rebuild (which we are doing fine as is). Adding Drummond gives us a legitimate center for the future and definitely someone who Brad Stevens can work on improving. However, I don't think the Pistons are willing to let him go, I believe they will match whatever offers other teams will give him 

[jbpats]

It'll have to be a Ray Allen situation.. AKA we sign Horford to lure Durant. Without Horford we have no chance of landing Durant, at least with the pieces we have currently.

You gotta assume coming to the East has some sort of appeal, KD can instantly go from a 3-5 seed in the west to a #1 seed in the East. The only other scenario that is better for him is GSW but I don't see him being the type of player to go to the best team just to win.

In my opinion this is easily a #1 seed in the East.
Horford
Durant
Crowder
Bradley
IT

Horford is the Key or Drummond.

I can't imagine any scenario where Detroit doesn't match for Drummond seeing as though he is restricted. I'd also dread having a player on the team that is a "hack a shaq" risk, it'll be painful to watch games.

[PhoSita]

Dream on

[Future Celtics Owner]

It'll have to be a Ray Allen situation.. AKA we sign Horford to lure Durant. Without Horford we have no chance of landing Durant, at least with the pieces we have currently.

You gotta assume coming to the East has some sort of appeal, KD can instantly go from a 3-5 seed in the west to a #1 seed in the East. The only other scenario that is better for him is GSW but I don't see him being the type of player to go to the best team just to win.

In my opinion this is easily a #1 seed in the East.
Horford
Durant
Crowder
Bradley
IT

Horford is the Key or Drummond.

i like both but I think Horford gives us a better shot at Durant since I read on an article Horford is on his shortlist of players he wants to play with. I am fine with either, but I think getting Horford to get Durant puts us in a win-now situation whereas Drummond wouldn't guarantee us Durant and he would be another building block to a longer rebuild (which we are doing fine as is). Adding Drummond gives us a legitimate center for the future and definitely someone who Brad Stevens can work on improving. However, I don't think the Pistons are willing to let him go, I believe they will match whatever offers other teams will give him

I think nothing is for certain right now, but if we can trade our pick for Cousins(1-2 easy, 3-6 depends on how disgruntled he is and how bad the Kings want to start over) IMO we would be the best landing spot for Durant.

If we get a top pick we should be able to easily deal with the Kings for Cousins without giving up any real talent besides the pick. In that case it would be the best move on multiple levels for Durant to sign here.

Durant and Cousins are complete super-stars and have many years left at MVP type levels. I would hold off on signing someone like Hortford(unless it's for a deal) and sign another top FA in a year.....Ibaka and Westbrook are going to be UFA then as well as many other top players.

[86MaxwellSmart]

I'll believe it when he visits Fenway Park.

[tomrod]

I'll believe it when he visits Fenway Park.

Totally the Kevin Love situation all over again...

I do feel like we will get our star this offseason, probably not Durant though

[GetLucky]

"Marcus Smart, he's a terrific competitor," Durant said. "He plays hard. He's a little guy that can defend three positions so I have my work cut out for me. I'm looking forward to it. I've been watching this team a lot. And they're scrappy. They play hard. They love their coach, they love their system, and especially in this building they play with a lot of energy. So it's going to be a tough test."

I found the bolded quote (from the OP) to be very interesting, particularly because I just read an interview with Durant (from 1 year ago) in which he says he refuses to watch other teams' games because it "feels like he's rooting for them."

This is a person who can hardly watch basketball when he’s not playing it. "I just don’t like other teams or other players. I can’t sit there. I feel like I’m supporting them by watching it. I hope you have a bad game. Because I’m such a hater! I thought it was a bad trait I had. I was like, Man, am I jealous? Why do I hate this guy? But I hope both of the teams lose! That’s how I feel."

Another quote about his loyalty:

Don’t forget, Kevin Durant was not selfish: He signed a full extension in 2010, no opt-outs. He remembers that, even if no one else does, even as he anticipates the lurking storm of recrimination that awaits him if he doesn’t re-up again. "I was loyal. If it comes down to that, I mean: I was. My deal’s up in 2016. I’ll have been here nine years. I could have easily wanted out. I could have easily not signed the extension after my rookie contract. I could have not played as hard every night. But people tend to forget."

It was a good read; check it out if you get a chance. But it intrigued me that Durant specifically mention watching and enjoying watching the Celtics. Maybe he's even rooting for us. We're certainly rooting for him to come here.

http://www.gq.com/story/kevin-durant-nba-allstar

[Denis998]

Bill is a prophet. Can't wait to hear him comment on this.

Isaiah Thomas - Smart
Brandon Ingram - Bradley
Kevin Durant - Turner
Jae Crowder - KO
Al Horford

= #18

[CelticsFan166]

Sign Horford, move draft pick plus young prospect (Smart maybe) to SAC for Cousins. Sign Durant. Tell Sully if he signs for less than 5m a year he can eat as much as he wants.

IT/ET/Rozier
AB/Young/Hunter
KD/Crowder/Young
Horford/Mickey/Jerebko
Cousins/Sully/Mickey

Oh me oh my.

[rondohondo]

so if we could sign KD and Horford who would be the 3rd star they would go after ?

so far we have
Cousins and Hayward
Have to add butler, griffin, love to the list

who else ?

melo?

[JBcat]

Ok so we sign Horford and KD

Then Get a top 5 pick , the pick would then likely moved along with a prospect like Smart to land another all-star level player (Gordon Hayward )

IT                /  Rozier
Hayward     / AB
Crowder     /  Turner ?
KD              / Mickey
Horford      / KO

Would need to add some depth at backup big man spots, but I'll take my chances 

Would we want KD playing the 4 full time?   I don't believe he plays there much now.  I think around 25% tops in fact I think the Thunders top 3 5 man units involve 2 of Kanter, Ibaka, or Adams.

I would be worried about rebounding here especially with Horford's declining rate the past few years, and Durant wearing down against bruisers most nights.  I actually think Sully could be a good fit if kept, and Crowder unfortunately the new 6th man as a backup 3 and 4.  I would go all in and do something like Bradley, Johnson,the Nets pick (other young players and/or draft picks as fillers for Butler.  I would like to keep Turner, but we may not need another ball dominant player, or have the cap space.

Thomas/Smart
Butler/Smart
KD/Crowder
Sully/Crowder
Horford/KO

Or we just keep Bradley, the Nets pick, and possibly Turner and just be very deep. Ha

[Denis998]

Ok so we sign Horford and KD

Then Get a top 5 pick , the pick would then likely moved along with a prospect like Smart to land another all-star level player (Gordon Hayward )

IT                /  Rozier
Hayward     / AB
Crowder     /  Turner ?
KD              / Mickey
Horford      / KO

Would need to add some depth at backup big man spots, but I'll take my chances 

Would we want KD playing the 4 full time?   I don't believe he plays there much now.  I think around 25% tops in fact I think the Thunders top 3 5 man units involve 2 of Kanter, Ibaka, or Adams.

I would be worried about rebounding here especially with Horford's declining rate the past few years, and Durant wearing down against bruisers most nights.  I actually think Sully could be a good fit if kept, and Crowder unfortunately the new 6th man as a backup 3 and 4.  I would go all in and do something like Bradley, Johnson,the Nets pick (other young players and/or draft picks as fillers for Butler.  I would like to keep Turner, but we may not need another ball dominant player, or have the cap space.

Thomas/Smart
Butler/Smart
KD/Crowder
Sully/Crowder
Horford/KO

Or we just keep Bradley, the Nets pick, and possibly Turner and just be very deep. Ha

oppps, I ment to put KD at the 3 and Jae at the 4

[Ilikesports17]

so if we could sign KD and Horford who would be the 3rd star they would go after ?

so far we have
Cousins and Hayward
Have to add butler, griffin, love to the list

who else ?

It would be really hard to fit another star under the cap.

If we renounce all our picks along with all our FAs (this means no going over the cap to bring back Turner or Sully for depth) we will have 54.8 mil in space. KD and Horford will command max deals (25.3 mil) this will leave us with 4.2 mil in space. Then we could presumable trade Marcus Smart along with all our draft picks (as opposed to renouncing them) and clear up another 3.8 mil which would mean we could nab anyone making south of 8 million dollars.

Im not a cap guru but it would take some serious gymnastics to sign those two and then add another star.

KD is obviously the big target.

Either sign Horford in FA to entice him or move Smart + Brooklyn to get a star here to entice him.

I dont think we will be able to add 3 stars this offseason, unless you trade Brooklyn '16 along with AT LEAST TWO of Smart Bradley Thomas Crowder.

The only way I can think acquiring three stars would work is as follows.

Dump: Zeller, Amir, Jerebko
Keep the Holds on: Sully(5.7), Turner (6.5), pick #4(3.4), other picks(~2.5)
Cap Space: 37 mil
Trade: Marcus Smart(3.6), Avery Bradley(8.3), #4, other picks for Jimmy Butler(16.4)
Cap space: 38 mil
Sign Durant(25)
Cap Space: 13 mil
Decision time. You can either go overpay an OK FA for 10 then resign Sully and Turner or you can go to Horfor and as him to play for 20 a year and then dump ET and bring back Sully for depth.

IT- Rozier
Butler- YOung- Hunter
Durant- Crowder
Horford - Mickey
Sullinger- Kelly

Im not sure if its worth it to get the third star.

[Celtic Fan Forever]

What's with the talk of signing a third star? If we bring in KD and Horford it wouldn't be necessary at all.

Horford/Olynyk
Sully/Mickey/Jerebko
Durant/Crowder
Bradley/Smart
Thomas/Rozier

Wouldn't even need to overpay to resign Turner. And we could move Sully and a couple of good picks for a better option at the 4. This team wins a title