Clippers’ slim chance of acquiring Kevin Durant is over
By Tom West
Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder haven’t made the NBA Finals just yet, but as they keep surging against the 73-9 reigning champions, the Los Angeles Clippers’ already slim chance to land KD in the offseason has disappeared.
For some time, there hasn’t been an NBA free agency class with more wild speculation and universal interest than the one that rapidly approaches in the summer of 2016 due to one man. Of course, that man is Kevin Durant. The homecoming hero of the Washington Wizards, the new legend of the Los Angeles Lakers, or the superstar looking to join the 73-9 party of the Golden State Warriors. Almost every theory you could think of has been thrown around.
Instead, Durant has proceeded to enter this postseason with more fire than ever, charging forward with his Oklahoma City Thunder to do what no one thought was possible.
First, the 67-win San Antonio Spurs stood in their way in the second round. Behind the Warriors themselves, they were widely touted as team with the best chance to win the championship this season, following their new star duo of Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge, while possessing historically stifling defense.
At least, that was supposed to be the case. Right until Durant and the faster, stronger, younger, Thunder overpowered them after a 124-92 Game 1 loss, using heightened defense and pace to throw them aside. Despite all odds, OKC quickly turned the tide and won three straight games to close the series, doubling the Spurs’ home loss total from the entire regular season.
They didn’t stop there.
In Game 1 against the Warriors, they somehow survived Durant and Russell Westbrook‘s combined 17-of-51 shooting, held Golden State to a mere 14 fourth quarter points, and won 108-102. It was a little shaky as Durant missed eight straight shots in the final period, but strong rebounding and defense earned them a win. More importantly, they bested the champions in Oracle Arena; the deafening environment where team’s hopes of winning generally go to die in a sea of yellow and blue.
Then, as the Warriors answered back in Golden State with a resounding 118-91 win in Game 2, the Thunder were put in their place by every critic. Stephen Curry reached the kind of back-to-back-MVP-supernova heat that he’s capable of to win, dropping 17 vital points in the third quarter and 28 overall.
Since then, though, the Warriors have been awry and the Thunder is cracking down. They’re forcing bad shots, Curry is coming off a terrible performance in Game 4 (6-of-20 shooting with six turnovers), and Draymond Green is using dirty plays to no avail as his role as a facilitator is taken away by OKC’s defensive pressure (2-of-16 shooting, five assists and 10 turnovers in the last two games).
“As a coach, you sit there and have great respect and admiration for somebody that plays that hard and gives to the game and his teammates what he gives.” Billy Donovan on Westbrook, via NBA.com’s Shaun Powell.
However, it’s not just the Warriors’ focus and execution being off at times. More than anything, the Thunder are commanding a serious level of respect, one that they haven’t earned until now.
With Billy Donovan’s mind, their work down low led by Steven Adams, Andre Roberson‘s career play, the brilliant fury of Westbrook, the increased defensive intensity from the entire team, and the best individual defense of Durant’s career, the Thunder are forcing the Warriors to look like a team that haven’t just won a championship or tallied a record-breaking 73-9 record.
Besides a scare from Klay Thompson in the third quarter of Game 4, scoring 19 straight points for the Warriors in a six-minute spell to cut the deficit to single-digits, the Thunder remained in total control again. They forced shooters off the three-point line, they’re covering everyone off-ball, they’re controlling the boards, their small lineup (Durant at four and Serge Ibaka at five) is thriving, and their transition play cannot be stopped.
The Thunder are proving their potential, and they’ve proved that they’re thoroughly worthy of putting what could have been the best team in history in a dire 3-1 hole.
Yes, it’s not over yet by any means. If there’s one team capable of an unbelievable comeback, it’s the Warriors. But as the Thunder reach new levels of fast-paced, organized assertiveness at both ends of the floor, it looks like Durant and Co. are ready for what could be a rematch against LeBron James in the Finals.
So, after all of this, the crushing of the Spurs and the recent dominance over the most formidable opponent possible, what do the Clippers have to hang on to if they want to pursue Durant this summer?
Of course, they wouldn’t remotely have the cap space to sign him as a free agent, but the possibility of a sign-and-trade for Blake Griffin (if Durant wanted to join the Clippers), allowing the Thunder to have some consolation to avoid losing their best player for nothing, is a genuine idea that’s been rumored for some time.
Despite Doc Rivers insisting he’s keeping the Clippers’ core, that possibility, no matter how distant, has lingered in the minds of many.
Now, though, it’s essentially been put to rest. With as much emphasis as Durant’s been deploying with his six blocks and 59 points over the last two games, the idea of KD to the Clippers is irrelevant now.
Because after taking down the 67-win Spurs and having the 73-win Warriors on the brink of elimination — supposedly the NBA’s two best teams leading as frontrunners to sign Durant this summer — have all but been eliminated by the elevated performance of the Thunder and the sought after free agent himself.
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If there was ever going to be a way to end such discussion and give Durant finite reasoning to stay in Oklahoma City with this group, it was proving to himself that he and his team are good enough to beat the best. Both the Spurs and Warriors had a chance to sell themselves to Durant face to face, and both (even while the latter still have a small ray of hope) have lost it due to OKC’s superior hunger and performance.
A few weeks ago, the top two teams in the West supposedly had more chance of signing Durant than anyone. Now, they’ve almost both been dismissed in a fashion that no one could have expected. No longer can they argue that for Durant to beat the best, he needs to be forced into joining the best. No longer can they convince him that the Thunder simply don’t have what it takes anymore to reach the level of Western Conference champions or anything more.
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In the mind of Durant, he has evidence to support his already limitless belief in his team, further realizing after this spell of play that both his heart and mind will be calling for Oklahoma City this summer.
To him, and most of us watching, too, they’re becoming the best at just the right time.
In comparison to the superior Spurs and Warriors, the Clippers are sitting further down the contender food chain and further out of Durant’s realm of interest, ready for one last run in 2016-17 with their own core. And rather than anyone thinking their time may come with a blockbuster trade, Durant has obliterated doubt and speculation in these two series already.
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The Thunder are good enough for a new level of greatness. Whether they proceed to win the title this year or not, this run should ensure no one will convince Durant otherwise.