Kevin Durant’s representatives "are working to solidify invitations" with the Celtics, Warriors, Clippers, Heat, Spurs and Thunder, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
According to the report, the meetings are expected to take place in New York, but teams are still awaiting on the specific location. Wojnarowski adds the Thunder are still the frontrunners for a one-plus-one-year deal to allow Durant to hit free agency for the big salary cap rise in 2017. Wojnarowski also said the Warriors "have Durant's attention." Lastly, the report adds Durant is expected to take a tour to the Far East on July 9 and should have a decision before then. OK, everybody got that?
So he's in NY, he's supposedly close with Rose and Melo and yet we aren't on his list of initial teams to meet. That's not a good sign.
Durant to meet with the Celtics, Warriors, Clippers, Heat, Spurs and Thunder - (
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Oladipo and KP are probably close to a wash in terms of value.
Then you have Westbrook and Adams vs Melo and Rose in terms of other players of value.
Then factor in coaching staff, GM, and ability to attract future free agents?
I may be biased, but I think the Knicks have the edge there.
KP gets the edge over Oladipo.
Westbrook vs Melo isn't very close. Rose is better than Adams by a decent amount, but the question is if he can return to past form. Or stay on the court. Because if not, then that's much closer, if not a win for OKC.
Coaching staff is an unknown, but I would tilt it towards OKC given Donovan's first year. GM has to go to OKC - Presti is a fucking magician.
Ability to attract free agents seems to be more of a function of the roster for top players. They're getting the max anyway, and the market has less effect for them.
OKC can offer more money.
Saying the Knicks' situation is better than OKC's is extremely biased. Probably the biggest advantage the Knicks have is being in the East.
Rose played 66 games last year despite entering the year coming off two major injuries. For comparison's sake, KP played 72 games last year, and no one even thinks of him being injured at all last year. The further away he gets the stronger he'll be. That's the optimistic take at least.
I think giving Donovan the coaching nod is generous. Thunder fans weren't particularly thrilled with him early in the year. I'm also admittedly very bullish on Horny.
The other factor which you didn't address, is that in 2017, even with Durant, we'll have room for another Max. So will the thunder of course, but OKC has had trouble attracting people there in the past. That's unlikely to change.
Don't forget, we're only 3 years away from Presti trading Harden for cents on the dollar because they didn't want to pay him.
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In comment 13009222 Jon in NYC said:
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Oladipo and KP are probably close to a wash in terms of value.
Then you have Westbrook and Adams vs Melo and Rose in terms of other players of value.
Then factor in coaching staff, GM, and ability to attract future free agents?
I may be biased, but I think the Knicks have the edge there.
KP gets the edge over Oladipo.
Westbrook vs Melo isn't very close. Rose is better than Adams by a decent amount, but the question is if he can return to past form. Or stay on the court. Because if not, then that's much closer, if not a win for OKC.
Coaching staff is an unknown, but I would tilt it towards OKC given Donovan's first year. GM has to go to OKC - Presti is a fucking magician.
Ability to attract free agents seems to be more of a function of the roster for top players. They're getting the max anyway, and the market has less effect for them.
OKC can offer more money.
Saying the Knicks' situation is better than OKC's is extremely biased. Probably the biggest advantage the Knicks have is being in the East.
Rose played 66 games last year despite entering the year coming off two major injuries. For comparison's sake, KP played 72 games last year, and no one even thinks of him being injured at all last year. The further away he gets the stronger he'll be. That's the optimistic take at least.
I think giving Donovan the coaching nod is generous. Thunder fans weren't particularly thrilled with him early in the year. I'm also admittedly very bullish on Horny.
The other factor which you didn't address, is that in 2017, even with Durant, we'll have room for another Max. So will the thunder of course, but OKC has had trouble attracting people there in the past. That's unlikely to change.
Don't forget, we're only 3 years away from Presti trading Harden for cents on the dollar because they didn't want to pay him.
Not sure how true that is, or how secure. What if Rose is falling apart? Then the max comes out of not renewing him.
And even if he does stay healthy, what's his cap hold next year? I'm not well-versed enough on the cap to know what effect that has.
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In comment 13009282 Aspano! said:
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In comment 13009222 Jon in NYC said:
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Oladipo and KP are probably close to a wash in terms of value.
Then you have Westbrook and Adams vs Melo and Rose in terms of other players of value.
Then factor in coaching staff, GM, and ability to attract future free agents?
I may be biased, but I think the Knicks have the edge there.
KP gets the edge over Oladipo.
Westbrook vs Melo isn't very close. Rose is better than Adams by a decent amount, but the question is if he can return to past form. Or stay on the court. Because if not, then that's much closer, if not a win for OKC.
Coaching staff is an unknown, but I would tilt it towards OKC given Donovan's first year. GM has to go to OKC - Presti is a fucking magician.
Ability to attract free agents seems to be more of a function of the roster for top players. They're getting the max anyway, and the market has less effect for them.
OKC can offer more money.
Saying the Knicks' situation is better than OKC's is extremely biased. Probably the biggest advantage the Knicks have is being in the East.
Rose played 66 games last year despite entering the year coming off two major injuries. For comparison's sake, KP played 72 games last year, and no one even thinks of him being injured at all last year. The further away he gets the stronger he'll be. That's the optimistic take at least.
I think giving Donovan the coaching nod is generous. Thunder fans weren't particularly thrilled with him early in the year. I'm also admittedly very bullish on Horny.
The other factor which you didn't address, is that in 2017, even with Durant, we'll have room for another Max. So will the thunder of course, but OKC has had trouble attracting people there in the past. That's unlikely to change.
Don't forget, we're only 3 years away from Presti trading Harden for cents on the dollar because they didn't want to pay him.
Not sure how true that is, or how secure. What if Rose is falling apart? Then the max comes out of not renewing him.
And even if he does stay healthy, what's his cap hold next year? I'm not well-versed enough on the cap to know what effect that has.
It will be close. The cap is jumping another 13M after this season, so if they just add Durant this year, they would have enough. If they added Noah and Durant, they would probably have to get a little creative with Rose's deal if they chose to re-sign him.
Well they certainly could get close if they worked at it.
Either way, a Rose-Durant-Melo-KP-Noah
roster probably doesn't need a ton of work. Assuming health is good, that's a monster team.
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have room for another max next year if they sign Durant. Durant's max I believe is around 28M, Rose's cap hold is 21.3M, plus 30.3 from other salaries, plus 4.5M for KP's team option. That's 84.1M. That doesn't include salaries for Galloway or Thomas if they come back (assume 3M each, which would add another 6M). Another max doesn't fit.
Well they certainly could get close if they worked at it.
Either way, a Rose-Durant-Melo-KP-Noah
roster probably doesn't need a ton of work. Assuming health is good, that's a monster team.
Not really. The only option would be to stretch KOQ or trade him, and even then it's only 4M.
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In comment 13009328 Aspano! said:
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have room for another max next year if they sign Durant. Durant's max I believe is around 28M, Rose's cap hold is 21.3M, plus 30.3 from other salaries, plus 4.5M for KP's team option. That's 84.1M. That doesn't include salaries for Galloway or Thomas if they come back (assume 3M each, which would add another 6M). Another max doesn't fit.
Well they certainly could get close if they worked at it.
Either way, a Rose-Durant-Melo-KP-Noah
roster probably doesn't need a ton of work. Assuming health is good, that's a monster team.
Not really. The only option would be to stretch KOQ or trade him, and even then it's only 4M.
Plus the 13 they would come in with. 17M. Then if you re-sign Rose to a deal with escalators that's another way to clear up space.
And that's not even mentioning that escalators don't really exist in the NBA.
Right now the only contracts the Knicks have on the books for next year are Carmelo, Porzingis, and O'Quinn. Those 3 total up to $34.8 million. The cap hold for Rose is $22.4 million. Add all of that with ~$28 mil for Durant and they are at $85.2 million in committed salaries towards an estimated cap of $107m.
If they can move O'Quinn, which you wouldn't think should be too hard, and they would have about $26m to work with. This is all going by data on sportrac, so assuming that is correct.
And again, that's assuming Galloway and Thomas are both off the roster. It's not gonna work.
He's probably already a top 10 SG. He didn't get any spacing in Orlando. Just watch, he will become an above average 3 point shooter, elite defender, and playmaker.
And that's not even mentioning that escalators don't really exist in the NBA.
Escalators 100% do exist in the NBA. In fact, every single player on the Knicks has one.
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In the meantime, Knick fans at least get to enjoy a competitive season with Rose, Melo, KP, and whatever big man Phil signs. Hopefully Gasol not the incredibly overrated Noah.
Or maybe he's just being nice to Melo so it doesn't seem he doesn't want to sniff his friend's team.