Once Durant agrees to join the Warriors, the rest is easy.
On July 4, 2016, Durant signed a two-year contract with the Golden State Warriors worth a total of 54.3 million, of which the second year was a player option.
The five-star battleship is officially formed!
As soon as the news came out, it shocked the entire alliance!
Netizens complained:
"I think the NBA can be dissolved and the championship trophy can be directly given to the Warriors!"
"NBA finale, game over!"
"I think people who criticize Durant are just standing up and talking without hurting their backs. Durant has been the second choice since the beginning of the draft. Later, he was suppressed by James, and even the Thunder began to be suppressed by Westbrook. So Durant
Joining the Warriors is to give himself a voice. He wants to tell everyone that he does not want to be the second child, he wants to be the fourth child..."
After hearing the news, LeBron James initially just said one word calmly: "Amazing!"
Later, James replied: "I think this is very good for our league. Our league is very competitive. The league continues to grow, and Adam Silver has taken over David Stern's job very well.
So that's great."
Some people are happy and some are worried. As soon as the news of Durant joining the Warriors came out, Golden State fans were certainly happy, but the ones who were unhappy were definitely Thunder fans.
Durant has always been the star of the Thunder, but now he suddenly switched to the Warriors. The Thunder had just lost to the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, which made Thunder fans very uncomfortable.
For a time, various videos of burning Durant's jersey were everywhere, and people called Durant a softie.
To be fair, the anger of Thunder fans is understandable, because Durant left directly without leaving anything for the Thunder!
Unlike other players who left, Durant did not choose to sign first and then trade, let alone trade.
If you tell the Thunder that you want to leave, the Thunder will definitely choose a trade method in advance to exchange for a large number of draft picks and powerful players. In this case, even if Durant leaves, the Thunder will receive a generous return.
Even if he has to leave during the offseason, Durant can choose to sign first and then trade, which will give him the highest return in terms of money. The Thunder can also get some assets back. Although the return is not much, it will not be empty-handed.
The most annoying thing is that Durant is like this now, leaving directly without leaving anything behind...
No wonder Thunder fans are angry.
But having said that, since he has decided to leave and since he has decided to pursue the championship wholeheartedly, it is also the best choice for Durant to do so.
Because no matter what the reward is, it must come from the Warriors. In that case, the Warriors will definitely lose a lot of high-quality assets, which will be detrimental to the Warriors' competition for the championship.
A sign-and-trade or trade approach would definitely be beneficial to the Thunder, but now that I have decided to leave, what does the quality of my predecessor have to do with me?
The quality of your current position is the most important thing!
What Durant did was best for himself and his pursuit of the championship. It was also best for the Warriors, but the Thunder became the most painful one.
How painful it is to watch the super giant you trained with your own hands leave, leaving nothing behind!
If they had spent millions more to keep Harden, the Thunder would have been much stronger than they are now, and their chances of winning the championship would have been much greater, so Durant might not have left.
I guess the general manager of the Thunder is feeling regretful now...
…
After Durant announced his decision, the Warriors had to make room to sign KD, so the team put Andrew Bogut on the shelf and withdrew the offer to Harrison Barnes, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Barnes is easy to talk about, and many people want him.
On July 5, 2016, the Dallas Mavericks and Harrison Barnes reached a signing agreement. On July 7, the two parties officially signed a four-year contract worth US$94 million.
After the free market opened, the Mavericks successively pursued Hassan Whiteside, Nicolas Batum and Mike Conley, but failed; at the same time, Chandler Parsons left the team and went to the Grizzlies.
Fortunately, one day ago, the Mavericks reached a one-year verbal agreement with Deron Williams worth a total of US$10 million.
After KD decided to go to the Warriors, the Mavericks' opportunity came. They quickly signed Barnes and reached a deal with the Warriors, and Bogut came to Dallas.
The 31-year-old Bogut played a total of 70 games last season, including 66 starts, and was one of the main players for the Warriors. He averaged 20.7 minutes per game, averaging 5.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 blocks.
Regarding signing with the Mavericks, Barnes said: "I think I have learned a lot in the past four years and won a championship ring. Now I have got a big contract and a lot of money. The Mavericks believe that I can help the team win
Winning. So I think the most important thing is just having fun and winning games. Ultimately no matter what happens it’s about winning.”
In this deal, the Warriors sent Andrew Bogut to the Mavericks for almost nothing in order to free up salary space.
Although the Warriors were reluctant to part with Bogut, they had no choice but to say goodbye to him in pain in order to get Durant.
In fact, the Warriors gave Bogut two choices, either to go to the Mavericks or the Rockets. In the end, Bogut chose the Mavericks.
Considering that Bogut has made great contributions to the team's championship, the Warriors hope to find an ideal home for Bogut. They do not want to send Bogut to a team that is not competitive enough. Between the Mavericks and Rockets, the Warriors
They believed that the Mavericks had a more realistic hope of reaching the playoffs, so they chose to trade with the Mavericks.
In fact, in terms of the need for a defensive center, the Mavericks and Rockets are the same. The Mavericks have failed to pursue Hassan Whiteside and urgently need to introduce a strong defensive center to share the pressure for Dirk Nowitzki.
After losing Dwight Howard, the Rockets also need a high-quality center to occupy the fifth position, partner with James Harden, and train young player Capela.
Bogut was originally an ideal choice for the Rockets, but obviously the Warriors do not believe that the Rockets' record in the new season can be better than the Mavericks.
This summer, the Rockets hired new coach D'Antoni and introduced Nene, Ryan Anderson, and Eric Gordon. The offense has been upgraded, but the holes on the defensive end have never been filled.
Although the Mavericks did not catch a big fish this summer, they took advantage of the Warriors' opportunity to sign Durant to get Harrison Barnes and Bogut who were forced to leave the team, and also renewed the contract of Deron Williams, No.
Witsky, signed Seth Curry.
On paper, the Mavericks are more balanced than the Rockets, have stronger defense, and their offense may not be inferior to the Rockets.
In the end, the Warriors sent Bogut + a 2019 second-round pick to the Mavericks, receiving a future protected second-round pick. The Mavericks made a huge profit from this deal.
