Kevin Durant has a shot at the largest contract in league history when his free agency officially arrives this summer, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Durant will have plenty of options to choose from, starting with the Thunder, who would love to keep him and Russell Westbrook together through the prime of their careers. The Warriors are believed to be the front-runners if Durant decides to leave Oklahoma City, and his hometown Wizards will surely be calling, along with the Lakers, who will need a star to replace Kobe Bryant. Or Durant could sign a one-year deal with OKC, maximize his earning power as a 10-year veteran and put off the larger decision until 2017. “Everybody’s going to ask me, so of course I’m going to have to think about it now,” Durant said. “To tell you one thing, it’s great to feel wanted, I guess.”
There’s more news from around the world of basketball:
- James Harden says he feels unfairly targeted for the bad situation in Houston, Washburn writes in the same piece, particularly the rumored rifts with Rockets center Dwight Howard and former coach Kevin McHale. “All the time,” Harden said when asked if he feels he’s being singled out over team disunity, “but I don’t really pay attention to it. I can’t focus on negativity because that drains you. I focus on what I can do, what I can control, and go out there and just compete at a high level.”
- The Blazers‘ C.J. McCollum is almost certain to win this season’s Most Improved Player award, according to Eric Saar of Basketball Insiders. McCollum, who’ll be up for a rookie scale extension this summer, has become a full-time starter and has raised his scoring average from 6.8 points a game last year to 21.1 points this season. Saar’s other candidates for the award are the Warriors‘ Draymond Green, the Celtics‘ Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder and the Raptors‘ Kyle Lowry.
- The Hawks have recalled center Edy Tavares and guard/forward Lamar Patterson from the Austin Spurs of the D-League, the team announced today. Tavares has averaged 10.1 points and 9.6 rebounds in 14 D-League games, while Patterson’s averages are 15.6 points, 5.7 assists and 5.0 rebounds in seven games with Austin.
- Chris Douglas-Roberts, whom the Pelicans cut in training camp, will be rejoining the D-League’s Texas Legends, who are the affiliate of the Mavericks, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
I think Andre Drummond should be in race for most improved and mvp
First time thinking? Drummond isn’t even in the same tier as Curry, Green, Leonard and durant.
As a Celtics fan I know I sound crazy and bias but I think Kevin Durant would be a great fit in Boston. They desperately need a go to guy and a wing scorer. They also play great team defense, couple that with KDs offensive ability and Boston would be contenders with Cleveland immediately for the East championship. On top of that Boston is much closer to KDs home town than most teams. It all works too well to not be in the discussion if you ask me. Maybe I’m crazy or missing something but I think this would be a terrific opportunity for both sides.
If he cares that much about hometown he’d just go play for Washington themselves. I’m a big C’s fan myself, and agree he would be a great fit. I’m just one of the more realistic Celtics fans you’ll ever find ;)
I understand the home town argument but I’d argue the Wizards are a mess compared to Boston. The close to home town argument from me is more of a throw in for KD. It’s probably the closest besides Washington, Philly, and NY, maybe Charlotte too. That’s 5 teams with major issues. John Wall has been very ball dominant in the games I’ve seen so that may dissuade KD. Idk just seems like a good fit in Boston. 1st is that he’s gonna be the center of the offense of a close to contending team which is much tougher in OKC, and then 2nd he as close to his home town as he can be and still be on an obvious contender. On top of that the Celtics have a very good draft pick that could pull in another great player and a coach that seems to be rising in status by the game. If I were KD I’d at least consider it, I think he’d be crazy not to.
KD to Boston isn’t unrealistic by any means. All they have to do (imo) is trade for a star player on draft night. Aquiring someone like Love or Cousins would be all it takes to get KD to Boston. And Ainge is ready to win
Poor James Harden. I feel so bad when everyone overrates a player and then gets mad when they finally realize they are terrible at 50% of the game. His defense is so bad that it got a coach fired. His fear the beard thing is something usually reserved for role players/fan fave types. He made a living running into people and flailing like no other player. Basically he’s Kevin Martin with a handle and a max contract. The end.
His fear the beard thing is a blatant copy of Brian Wilson…
I’m surprised Harden took a minute away from dribbling to answer the question…
“I focus on what I can do, what I can control, and go out there and just compete at a high level.” That quote personifies James Harden right now. He’s drinking too much of his own cool-aid. It’s all about him. That’s why he gets criticism. If he wants to make everything about himself, he should be prepared for that
Harden needs a fiery veteran teammate who cares about winning and will challenge him when he gets lazy. Sort of the opposite of what he has in Dwight Howard.