Clippers: Doc Rivers says L.A. were in ‘top 3’ for Kevin Durant
By Tom West
During his podcast appearance with Adrian Wojnarowski, Doc Rivers said the Los Angeles Clippers were in Kevin Durant’s “top three” for his choice in free agency.
The NBA world still feels somewhat unsettled by Kevin Durant‘s decision in free agency. The Golden State Warriors and their fans will still be rejoicing, enjoying his time with Klay Thompson and Draymond Green for Team USA, but everyone else has to deal with the formidable thought of a new super team. 73-9 just got better and the “Death Lineup” just became the “Mega Death Lineup.” And right until Durant’s decision, the teams in the running, from the Boston Celtics to the Los Angeles Clippers, believed they were in it.
Doc Rivers explained on Adrian Wojnarowski’s podcast for The Vertical how the pursuit of Durant went hour by hour, which even included the Clippers ensuring that a couple of their own free agents would slightly delay organizing deals so that full attention could be placed on Durant.
The Clippers were willing to wait and go for Durant, as Doc believed they were really in the top three for the decision:
"“We were willing to take the gamble if we felt we were in it. And we were in it. We were in the top-3 at the very end. But we had to make a couple calls to (Durant’s camp). We got two players to delay an hour (before making their decisions). We had two players on our team who could sign for more money but they were going to wait another hour to stay with us.The second thing is we had to get this right. If we’re going to go after Durant, if we can get him, let’s stay in it. It’s worth it, even if we don’t get him. If we’re not going to get him, we have to make that decision. We have to do our job business wise.”"
The frontrunners, judging by all reports at the time, were the Celtics and Clippers with the Thunder and Warriors leading the way. Despite the Celtics signing Al Horford and bringing New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady along to their pitch, the Clippers could have been ahead at third if Durant really was “blown away” (obviously, that couldn’t overcome the Warriors’ roster and style) by their pitch.
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If Durant chose the Clippers, they’d undoubtedly be lined up incredibly well to defeat the Warriors in the playoffs. If he went east to the Celtics, he’d be on a weaker team that would still face LeBron James‘ Cleveland Cavaliers to even make it to the Finals.
Doc praised Blake Griffin for his part in the Clippers’ pitch, calling his input “phenomenal” and emphasizing how important he was in doing all he could to make a presentation that could have still been the best one that Durant received, as Doc said to Woj.
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Of course, it wasn’t enough. When Woj asked why Durant would have been swayed towards the Warriors, referencing the obvious fit into their play style, Doc agreed, saying that the seamless fit into their fluid, flamboyant, prolific shooting offense would have been why Durant chose the 2015 NBA champions. And, as goes without saying, their talent base, 73-9 win season, 2015 title and 2016 Finals appearance were obviously a factor in Durant choosing Golden State.
On top of that, there was financial motivation for Durant to choose the Thunder or Warriors over the Clippers. L.A. needed to ask Durant to take a financial hit straight away, as Doc explained on the podcast. They would need him to take slightly less than the full max, gut their bench to create cap space using a host of minimum deals, and then ask Chris Paul and Griffin to take less next year, too.
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All things considered, we never really expected the Clippers to win Durant’s heart over the Warriors’ historic talent and style or the connection to Oklahoma City. At least the Clippers did their all, and perhaps such pitching by their stars, Doc, and Steve Ballmer can win over other notable free agents in the future.