Kevin Durant Rumors | Hoops Rumors

LeBron, Giannis, Curry, Other Stars United In Desire To Resume Season

May 12th, 2020 at 4:35pm CST by Luke Adams

NBPA president Chris Paul arranged a private conference call with a number of the league’s superstars on Monday to discuss the coronavirus ramifications and the potential resumption of the 2019/20 season, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

By the end of the conversation, per Haynes, those players were united in their desire to resume the season once the NBA ensures the necessary safety measures are in place and gets the green light. According to Haynes, LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, and Russell Westbrook were among the players on the call.

As Haynes explains, the group’s decision is expected to carry significant weight at a time when not all of the NBA’s players are necessarily on board with the idea of completing the 2019/20 season this summer.

Sources tell Yahoo Sports that many players on teams who are all but eliminated from playoff contention would prefer to just have the top eight clubs in each conference finish the season. The fact that stars outside the playoff picture, such as Curry and Lillard, are in favor of resuming play is significant.

According to Haynes, there was also some concern among players after Friday’s call that the NBA wouldn’t be able to guarantee player safety, with a coronavirus vaccine not expected to be available until 2021 at the earliest. Commissioner Adam Silver assured players that the league will do all it can to create the safest possible conditions, and it sounds like the stars on Monday’s call are satisfied with that promise.

Haynes notes that there are some players out of the playoff picture who are worried about a canceled season negatively impacting the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. That’s an issue we’ve touched upon in recent days, with Adrian Wojnarowski, Bob Myers, and Mark Cuban among those who have suggested that lottery teams will have to prioritize the “greater good” of the league, since the NBA and its players would benefit financially over the long term from playing as many games as it safely can this year and next.

As we relayed earlier this afternoon, the NBPA has reportedly begun reaching out to individual players to get their feedback on whether or not they want the season to resume.

Woj On Durant, Schedule, NBA Finances, More

May 11th, 2020 at 12:52pm CST by Luke Adams

Although Nets general manager Sean Marks isn’t willing to close the door on the possibility of Kevin Durant returning to the court if the 2019/20 season resumes this summer, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski sounds prepared to slam that door shut.

In the latest episode of his Woj Pod, speaking to guests Rachel Nichols and Bobby Marks, Wojnarowski suggested that we still shouldn’t expect to see Durant make his comeback until the 2020/21 season gets underway.

“Kevin Durant’s not coming back to the Nets this year,” Woj said. “That’s not happening… They’re not playing him.”

While Wojnarowski didn’t go into detail on the Durant situation, his comment came during a discussion about teams being wary of rushing players back this summer, following a brief ramp-up period. The implication in Durant’s case is that the potential reward for the seventh-seeded Nets wouldn’t be worth the risk of possibly compromising the star forward’s health for next season.

Here are a few more takeaways from the latest Woj Pod episode:

Asked by Nichols if the NBA might play a shortened season in 2020/21 – particularly if it starts around Christmas – Wojnarowski stressed that’s very unlikely. As he explains, the league will be doing all it can to recoup lost revenue next season, which will mean playing as many games as possible (ideally 82) in ’20/21. In other words, if the regular season starts in December, it will likely run into June, with the Finals potentially ending next August.
During the podcast – and in a subsequent article for ESPN.com – Wojnarowski observed that the coronavirus pandemic has the potential to create major imbalances throughout the league. For instance, if certain states permit fans in arenas at the start of next season and others don’t, that could create a major earnings disparity between many of the league’s franchises, which could lead to competitive imbalance.
Additionally, as Woj details, a number of smaller-market teams rely on the NBA’s revenue-sharing model and benefit from huge gate receipts from markets like Los Angeles, New York, and Golden State. If franchises in those big markets still can’t allow fans in arenas when the 2020/21 season begins – or have to do so on a limited basis – it would have a ripple effect throughout the rest of the league.
Discussing the potential resumption of the 2019/20 season, Wojnarowski noted that the NBA will have to sell many of its lottery teams on prioritizing the “greater good” of the league — even if some of those teams would benefit (financially and otherwise) from simply canceling this season and focusing on 2020/21. Warriors head of basketball operations Bob Myers addressed this subject last week, vowing that his team would be “good partners” if and when the season resumes.

Atlantic Notes: Durant, Raptors, Knicks, Celtics

May 6th, 2020 at 1:00pm CST by Luke Adams

ESPN analyst Jay Williams doesn’t profess to have any inside info on whether his friend Kevin Durant will aim to return this summer from an Achilles tear, but suggested to Marc Berman of The New York Post that the condensed nature of a resumed 2019/20 schedule may be a deterrent for the injured Nets star.

“It’s one thing to come back and start the beginning of next season where there’s time and space between games and (you can) keep your body ramped up the right way,” Williams said. “But someone coming back off an injury and (going) right into a playoff scenario, I don’t think it’s feasible or fair on Kevin himself. But Kevin is his own man. He’ll do what he wants to do.”

Durant’s return from last year’s Achilles injury had initially been expected to happen at the start of the 2020/21 season, but there has been speculation during the hiatus about the possibility of him making it back this summer. KD’s manager Rich Kleiman has repeatedly stated it’s not realistic to expect the star forward to return before next season, though neither he nor GM Sean Marks has entirely ruled out the possibility.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

The Raptors are in touch with officials at the city and provincial level in the hopes of being able to reopen their practice facility for individual workouts, writes Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. As Smith notes, Toronto Mayor John Tory hopes to have an answer for the team by the end of the week. “A couple of athletes and a couple of trainers, quite literally, so you’d have a very small group of people in there,” Tory said. “That proposal, that we worked on back and forth with the Raptors, is under very active consideration. I think the discussions have been going well.”
In his latest mailbag, Ian Begley of SNY.tv answers questions on Leon Rose‘s roster-building philosophy, the Knicks‘ decision to retain GM Scott Perry, and where the team stands on Frank Ntilikina, among other topics.
In a pair of articles for The Athletic, Jay King and John Hollinger examine Gordon Hayward‘s contract situation and a potential max extension for Jayson Tatum, and Hollinger explains why he’s not particularly bullish on the Celtics‘ group of rookies.

Sean Marks Doesn’t Rule Out A Return By Kevin Durant

May 3rd, 2020 at 10:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Durant‘s manager and business partner Rich Kleiman has suggested Durant won’t try to return if the season resumes, but Nets general manager Sean Marks wasn’t as definite when asked about the possibility by Grant Chapman of Newshub in New Zealand.

“That’s a $110MM question,” Marks responded. “In all seriousness, we’ve tried not to talk about his timeline a lot. He knows his body better than anybody. Our performance team and training staff have done a tremendous job getting him to this point, but I just don’t know how coming out of this pandemic will affect anybody, let alone Kevin.

“When you’ve got enough invested in a player like Kevin, we’re never going to push him to come back. When the timing is right, he’ll be 100 percent when he gets on the court. I can tell you this though — before the pandemic, he looked like Kevin Durant and that’s a good thing.”

When Durant signed with the Nets last summer, it was generally accepted that he would sit out the entire season while recovering from Achilles surgery. However, the NBA’s hiatus may present an unexpected opportunity. Durant was participating in three-on-three scrimmages before the league was locked down and was impressing teammates with his play.

Durant is approaching the 11-month mark since suffering the injury in Game 5 of the NBA Finals and could provide a much-needed playoff boost to Brooklyn, which currently occupies the seventh seed in the East.

Also in the interview, Marks, a native New Zealander, said he remains optimistic that the league can finish its season, adding that the Nets’ staff is preparing for multiple scenarios.

“It’s not like we’re not throwing stuff on the wall, because we are,” he said. “We’re throwing stuff up there like, ‘what if this happens, what if that happens… what are the circumstances we would need to return’. Nobody quite knows what the new normal will be. The new normal we were predicting a week ago is vastly different to the one we’re predicting right now … things are changing so quickly.”

Nets Notes: Lue, Kidd, Durant, Martin

April 26th, 2020 at 4:10pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Many around the league believe Tyronn Lue, who is rumored to be in the running to coach the Nets next season, would be the best fit for Brooklyn, as Eric Pincus writes for Bleacher Report. Lue previously coached Irving in Cleveland and the Lakers’ guard has a reputation for managing top talent well.

“He can handle egos,” one former executive told Pincus. “[They] need a guy with rings … Ty all day.”

Jason Kidd would be another choice, as he has won a ring in the past and has the respect of players.

“I think Kyrie and KD would need a championship coach (Lue) or a Hall-of-Famer (Kidd),” said another executive. “I think both (players) have personalities that are mercurial and require different aspects from their coaches.

“I like Kidd. He’s very charming … LeBron speaks highly of him…Some people around the league say that’s his game: Be very nice, then get in while your guard is down.”

Kidd previously coached the Nets, where he reportedly lobbied for a title that would place him above the team’s GM in the organization’s hierarchy. The franchise opted not to allow this to happen and Kidd ultimately moved to Milwaukee to coach the Bucks. However, it’s worth noting that ownership has changed in Brooklyn since Kidd’s most recent stint. Still, even if there are no leftover issues within the club, some believe the former point guard isn’t made out for the position.

“Kidd can’t coach,” a different Western Conference executive told Pincus.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

The Nets‘ new head coach could come down to Kevin Durant‘s preference, Pincus adds in the same piece. Durant and his manager, Rich Kleiman, are expected to have influence on the selection.
Durant and Irving might be “too new-school” for the team to bring in Mark Jackson as the coach, an executive tells Pincus (same piece). Regardless of who the Nets choose, a decision isn’t expected for quite some time.
Ajayi Brown of NetsDaily breaks down the game of Jeremiah Martin, 6’2″ scoring guard who had just received a two-way contract with the Nets prior to the league’s hiatus. Martin only played 16 minutes for the Nets but was making strides while playing for the franchise’s G League affiliate.

Warriors Notes: Green, Durant, Future, Lottery Pick

April 24th, 2020 at 11:50am CST by Luke Adams

After weighing in earlier in the week on how Kevin Durant‘s contract situation affected the 2018/19 Warriors, Draymond Green got even more candid about the end of the Durant era in Golden State during an appearance on Showtime’s “All the Smoke” with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. As Drew Shiller of NBC Sports Bay Area relays, Green went into detail on his infamous confrontation with Durant during a November 2018 loss to the Clippers.

“He comes to the bench and he slaps the bench like, ‘Yo! Pass me the f–king ball,'” Green said of Durant’s actions at the end of that game. “I’m like, ‘Get the f–k outta here. F–king run then.’ And he’s like, ‘You heard what the f–k I said’ and slaps the chair: ‘Pass me the f–king ball.’ I’m like, ‘Yo, you better calm the f–k down. I don’t know who the f–k you think you’re talking to.’

“Remember, I got the pulse of this team. I got the pulse of the organization. I already know you one foot in and one foot out. … I’ve been an All-Star before you got here. I’ve been doing this. Don’t talk to me like I’m one of these little dudes that don’t know how to hoop. I’m a grown a– man.'”

Green went on to describe the aftermath of that incident, which saw head coach Steve Kerr and GM Bob Myers ask him to apologize for his blow-up and then suspend him for a game when he wasn’t initially willing to do so. While Durant has suggested that the confrontation played a part in his departure from the Warriors, Green rejected the idea that he pushed KD out the door.

“This is f–king Kevin Durant we’re talking about,” Green said, per Shiller. “Yeah, I’ve done great things here. But let me tell you this — if Kevin really wanted to be here, all he would have done is went to Bob and said, ‘Yeah, I’ll stay. But Draymond gotta go.’ And guess what — Bob Myers would have called me and said, ‘Draymond, I love you — and I won’t trade you to a bad team — but where do you want to go?’ … You’re f–king Kevin Durant. If you wanted to be here, I would have been out. I would have been long gone.”

Here’s more on the Warriors:

Dan Feldman of NBC Sports passed along some additional choice quotes from Green’s appearance on “All The Smoke,” including the former Defensive Player of the Year’s suggestion that Durant was upset by the perception that LeBron James was still the NBA’s best player following the 2017 Finals. “You turn on the TV the next day, and the f–king headline is ‘LeBron James still the best player in the world, question mark,'” Green said. “You’ve got Stephen A. (Smith), you’ve got all these people debating it. And everybody still said LeBron James is the best player in the world. That’s when I kind of felt like it took a turn. And then we came back (for the) 2017/2018 season, and Kevin just wasn’t as happy.”
Anthony Slater and John Hollinger of The Athletic explored the Warriors’ future outlook, with Hollinger noting it would be surprising if Golden State isn’t willing to spend whatever it takes to add talent to the roster going forward, since the team essentially made that decision when it acquired D’Angelo Russell in last summer’s Durant sign-and-trade. Hollinger also suggests that using the “Russell strategy” – acquiring a player and being willing to trade him later – might make sense for the Warriors’ 2020 lottery pick if no appealing deals are available in the offseason, since more trade options could surface at the 2021 deadline.
In a separate piece for The Athletic, Slater explores the similarities between Stephen Curry‘s below-market value with the Warriors from 2013-17 and Scottie Pippen‘s bargain deal with the Bulls during their 1990s dynasty.

Nets Notes: Durant, Lue, Next Steps

April 22nd, 2020 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

Although Kevin Durant is still a ways away from returning to the court and making his Nets debut, he was making progress in his recovery during the weeks leading up to the NBA’s hiatus, participating in three-on-three games. As Alex Schiffer of The Athletic details, Durant’s Brooklyn teammates were impressed with how the former MVP, who has spent the last 10 months recovering from Achilles surgery, looked in those scrimmages.

“He’s unguardable,” Theo Pinson said last month. “You think you’re contesting it, playing good defense and in a way he doesn’t even see you. It makes us better, and we’re trying to challenge him, too.”

Durant’s manager and business partner Rich Kleiman has stated multiple times since the NBA suspended its season that he still doesn’t believe it’s realistic to expect KD to return to action if the 2019/20 season resumes this summer. Still, even if Durant doesn’t suit up for the Nets until the ’20/21 season begins, the reports on his three-on-three performances have been encouraging.

“Whether he’s playing three-on-three, one-on-one, five-on-five, he’s KD,” Garrett Temple said. “And he’s an amazing player.”

Here’s more on the Nets:

In the wake of a report suggesting that Tyronn Lue is interested in the Nets’ head coaching job, a pair of former Nets forwards – Paul Pierce and Richard Jefferson – endorsed the idea of Lue taking the reins in Brooklyn, as Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News writes. “There are so many great young coaches out there who deserve an opportunity. T-Lue, to me, is the No. 1 young coach. He can coach,” Jefferson said on ESPN’s The Jump on Tuesday. “He can do all that stuff. He has a proven track record. So do I think T-Lue can coach this team? Do I think he can be successful? Yes.”
Alex Schiffer and John Hollinger of The Athletic explore potential next steps for the Nets as they look to become a title contender, touching on the head coaching situation and several other topics. In Hollinger’s view, if Brooklyn pursues a trade for a third star player, it should be someone who can be a defensive anchor and “punish teams without the ball,” since it doesn’t make sense to add another ball-dominant star to complement Kyrie Irving and Durant. Rudy Gobert would be an ideal target if the Jazz were to ever make him available, Hollinger suggests.
In case you missed it earlier this month, we previewed the Nets’ salary cap outlook for the 2020/21 season.

Green: KD’s Contract Was “Elephant In The Room” In 2018/19

April 21st, 2020 at 2:23pm CST by Luke Adams

After watching the first two episodes of ESPN’s “Last Dance” documentary, Warriors big man Draymond Green drew some parallels between the 1997/98 Bulls and the 2018/19 Warriors.

Appearing on Uninterrupted’s “WRTS: After Party” show with Paul Rivera and Maverick Carter, Green suggested that the uncertainty surrounding Kevin Durant‘s contract situation during the ’18/19 season prevented Golden State from approaching the year knowing whether it would be that group’s last chance to win a title.

“Kevin took the one-year deal on his own. So that was kind of the elephant in the room,” Green said, per Nick Friedell of ESPN.com. “And although (head coach) Steve (Kerr)‘s approach was like, ‘Hey, guys, let’s approach this year because we don’t know what next year brings,’ you’ve got Kevin’s contract, you’ve got (Klay Thompson)’s contract, and I kind of got thrown in that contract thing, although I had another year after that year, which was this year.

“And so that was kind of the elephant in the room, and although Steve would kind of hit on it, (saying) ‘Let’s just enjoy this year for what it is because we don’t know what next year holds,’ it didn’t necessarily carry the same weight because what should have happened was Kevin come out and say, ‘Hey, man, this is it (his last year with the Warriors), so let’s do this,’ or, ‘This isn’t it.'”

As Green mentioned, Durant signed a one-year contract with the Warriors during the summer of 2018. While that was Durant’s third consecutive short-term deal with the team, there was an understanding when he signed his previous two contracts that he wouldn’t be exploring the free agent market when they expired. That wasn’t the case with his third deal, so KD and the rest of the Warriors faced questions throughout the ’18/19 season about his future and the team’s future.

In the case of Michael Jordan‘s Bulls, there was an understanding heading into the ’97/98 campaign that it would be his and head coach Phil Jackson‘s final year in Chicago. Green suggested this week that having that sort of certainty last season may have benefited the Warriors.

“There was always an elephant in the room amongst us, as opposed to with (the Bulls), they didn’t have that elephant,” Green said. “(General manager Jerry Krause) had said it was Phil’s last year. Phil had told them this was the last dance. Mike already said, ‘Well, if Phil ain’t coming back next year, I’m not either.’ So everybody knew it was Mike’s last year. They didn’t have that elephant. Whereas I think we had a huge elephant sitting in the room, and Steve was trying to address it as best as he could, but it was kind of out of his hands.”

Even if Green is right that Durant’s contract situation was a distraction for the Warriors, the team still came close to winning a third consecutive championship last spring, and may very well have done so if not for injuries to Durant and Thompson before and during the NBA Finals.

Atlantic Notes: Knox, Durant, Robinson, Hayward

April 18th, 2020 at 10:20am CST by Dana Gauruder

The league’s hiatus has made it much more difficult for new Knicks president Leon Rose to evaluate Kevin Knox, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. Rose was unable to get a closer look at the second-year forward and doesn’t know if the 20-year-old is part of the team’s future, Berman adds. Rose must decide prior to the start of next season whether to pick up Knox’s $5.84MM fourth-year option.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Kevin Durant‘s agent and business partner, Rich Kleiman, said it’s unrealistic to think his client can return to action from his Achilles injury this summer, he told Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix. This reiterates what Kleiman said in an ESPN interview last month about the Nets forward. “I promise you, Kevin and I have not talked about that. And I know it sounds crazy, but my assumption has been that wasn’t very realistic,” Kleiman said to Mannix.
Mitchell Robinson‘s development may be the biggest argument to remove the interim tag from Knicks coach Mike Miller, Berman writes in a separate story. Robinson has emerged as a foundation piece, according to Berman, and his high school coach, Butch Stockton, believes Miller is primarily responsible for that. “The Knicks have done a real good job developing him and getting toward to his full potential,” Stockton said.
Celtics forward Gordon Hayward said the hiatus has allowed him to heal up from lingering knee and foot injuries, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe reports. “That’s one positive from this whole thing is everybody’s been able to recover,” Hayward said. “We haven’t been able to do much, so hopefully everyone is healthy whenever and if ever we get back this year. … This has been good for everybody’s body.”

Atlantic Notes: Durant, Irving, Powell, Ntilikina

April 15th, 2020 at 9:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nets general manager Sean Marks offered an update on the status of injured stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving during remote interviews this week, relays NetsDaily. Durant continues to rehab an Achilles injury that has sidelined him since last year’s NBA Finals, while Irving is recovering from shoulder surgery on March 3.

“Specifically with Kevin, this rehab and return to practice was really looking great,” Marks said. “He was on the floor again. A lot people have seen that short little video that was posted and so forth. It was remarkable to see the way he was progressing. … I’ve talked to Ky multiple times. He seems to be doing very very well, rehabbing in his apartment in Brooklyn and between here and Jersey. So he’s doing well. I know both those guys are itching to get back, but get back at 100 percent.”

Marks also addressed the team’s unsettled coaching situation, as interim Jacque Vaughn only got to coach the team for two games after taking over for Kenny Atkinson. Marks said Vaughn and his staff are staying in touch with players and expressed hope that he will get more opportunity to show what he can do before a final decision has to be made.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Raptors guard Norman Powell is fully recovered from a twisted ankle he suffered during the team’s final game before the hiatus, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports. Powell has been watching a couple hours of film each day during the break and is concentrating on his defense off the ball (Twitter link).
The Knicks are less likely to try to move point guard Frank Ntilikina this offseason than they were last summer, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Several teams said New York reached out to them with trade proposals involving Ntilikina before last year’s draft and may have accepted an early second-round pick in return.
There is a “growing belief” that interim Knicks coach Mike Miller will have a role with the organization next season, although he remains a long shot to become the permanent head coach, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Miller has been studying tape and trying to keep the team running as normally as possible under the circumstances. “We’ve done a good job of making sure throughout the week our players hear from us almost on a daily basis — from the training staff, performance staff and medical staff,” he said. “They have been very well connected with us making sure everyone is safe.”