Report: Warriors internally split on prospect of adding Durant
The prospect of adding one of the NBA's three best players (and one of the greatest scorers we've ever seen) to what may already be the greatest NBA team of all time is terrifying.
That feeling, apparently, is not exclusive to the members and fans of the league's other 29 teams. The Golden State Warriors are themselves frightened (if tantalized) by the possibility of adding impending free agent Kevin Durant, according to ESPN's Zach Lowe.
With recent reports suggesting the Warriors would have the inside track to nab Durant if he chooses not to re-sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder this summer, Lowe reports that "there is some division within the Warriors" about whether that would indeed be the best thing for the franchise.
The logic behind that thinking essentially boils down to: Why mess with a good thing?
Actually, calling the Warriors' thing "good" would dramatically undersell it. They are defending champs and overwhelming favorites to repeat, on pace to break the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls' record for regular-season wins along the way. They have the reigning MVP in Steph Curry, who's a lock to take home the award again so long as he stays healthy. Durant would give them almost unprecedented star power across the roster, but the Warriors, as currently constructed, are greater than the sum of their parts, and adding Durant would mean making significant subtractions elsewhere.
Swingman Harrison Barnes and center Festus Ezeli - two young, solid, ever-improving players - are slated to become free agents this summer, and the Warriors might have to let one or both of them walk if they want to fit Durant's max salary.
Depending on how they'd handle that pair's free agency, they might have to unload two of their other significant role players: Preeminent wing defender and reigning Finals MVP Andre Iguodala, starting center and top-line rim protector Andrew Bogut, or change-of-pace backup point guard Shaun Livingston.
According to Lowe, "The Warriors would have to offload two of those guys into someone else’s cap space, and they are privately worried they might have to attach one or even two future first-round picks to grease the wheels."
Having already parted with two first-rounders in order to dump salary to accommodate Iguodala in 2013, that might be a bitter pill for Golden State to swallow.
Big picture, the Warriors have gotten where they are thanks to a unique combination of skill, fit, depth, and continuity. Durant would represent an undeniable upgrade in the skill department, but the balance of depth, continuity, and perhaps even fit would be thrown off.
That's not to say the Warriors won't try to do everything in their power to land Durant (or that they shouldn't), only that there are legitimate reasons why not everyone in the organization would consider the play a slam dunk.