It’s what we expected, but Kevin Durant has now informed the Los Angeles Clippers that he won’t be signing with them in NBA free agency.
Well, we knew this was coming, didn’t we? On Saturday, once news emerged that the Los Angeles Clippers had agreed to a three-year deal with Austin Rivers, it became fairly obvious that the team had started re-signing their own players once they felt Kevin Durant would no longer be an option. Now, that was clearly due to Durant informing them that he wouldn’t be joining them.
It’s a great help on Durant’s part as he could easily leave the Clippers to anxiously wait for him to come to an agreement with a team (or them) before knowing what to do. At least this way they have been able to act with their own free agents, but it’s obviously terrible news for the team, no matter how difficult this was going to be since the beginning.
Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times reported Durant’s decision to take L.A. out of his decision.
Seems obvious by now but Clippers have been told that Kevin Durant will not be joining them.
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) July 3, 2016
With that, the “Big 4” dream is officially dead. The idea of the Clippers bringing in Durant to form a devastating starting lineup alongside Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan was the team’s pitch to him, one that reportedly “blew him away,” but clearly it wasn’t enough.
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It’s what Clippers fans must have known deep down, though. It was always going to be an incredible long shot to form a Big 4 with the need to gut the rest of the team and fill out the roster with minimum veteran deals. That alone may have deterred Durant if he thought the bench was going to be a weakness.
We simply can’t know, but this is probably just the next step in all this KD speculation coming to an end for when he ultimately stays in Oklahoma City.
Perhaps, the Clippers did enough to pitch themselves into a position to be in the running for Durant again next season if he signs a one-year deal as expected.
The Boston Celtics also made a major move in doing all they can to attract Durant to their growing team. On Saturday, they came to a four-year, $113 million deal with All-Star center Al Horford, the best player and most sought after target left on the market besides Durant himself.
However, to the Celtics’ disappointment, reports have already emerged that Horford won’t be the deciding factor in his decision. It certainly can’t hurt, though.
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Now, with the Clippers’ small forward options dwindling and the team re-signing both Austin Rivers and Wesley Johnson to three-year deals, we’ll have to wait and see who else returns and what they can make work after their free agency dream ended.