Kevin Durant: “I want to be part of this organization”

Why would Durant stay in such a small market? He can grow so much by moving to a major market and be on a team with the financial resources to compete for titles. That is not a realistic scenario in OKC.

"I want to be somewhere where I'm comfortable, where I have a chance to win a championship, and I think that will be here."

He wants the hardware friends, you offer max and leave the table open for him to take less if he's interested in keeping the crew together.

But there very well may be a grandfather clause in the new CBA anyway that players signed before said agreement wont effect the hard cap, so none of this may matter anyway.

justin :@Keith
That scenario (no acquisitions at all) would really put me off this team..

I think we all want them to get something. But it depends on the circumstances some. I mean, if they try and just don't get anyone, that is different than not trying. There's a chance that we'll just be flat turned down by free agents, regardless of having Durant and Westbrook for them to play with.

Of course you offer him the max, but be completely up front with him. In a few years, depending on the growth of our young guys, it could be difficult to keep everyone around without making some sacrifices. I'd say, look: The max contract is on the table, and we are more than willing to offer that, but if you put your faith in us to build a championship caliber team and put some of that money back on the table, it can help ensure that this team sticks together and adds the pieces it needs.

KD clearly said in that article that he didn't get into this game solely for the money. You can tell he is a very level headed and good kid. He loves his teammates and this organization because of them. These teammates are the whole reason he loves OKC. You give him the choice and make it known that this is HIS organization. I think KD would be more than willing to offer money on the table to build a championship team and keep all his friends around.

@morgan
This is probably why the topic has diverged so much, and even in the beginning focused more on Green's extension than Durant's. We know what is going to happen with Durant, we actually can do some guessing and "playing Presti" with everything else.

you pay Durant the max for the same reason my divorce lawyer cost so much....he is worth it

@morgan
Indeed. It's not even an issue of "he's so humble and wants to win, would it hurt to ask?" We have no incentive to be cheap at all. We can afford him at a max contract without any problem. Even if we squeeze 1-2 million out of the contract (even each year), what does it matter? We will be at the cap once the extensions kick in, probably sooner if Presti uses the cap space this summer, so it's not like it buys us another player. And if the management can't afford that 1-2 million now, why are we even bothering to hope for a championship team in the future?

@Keith

Exactly he is no doubt a max player so there is no doubt you offer him a max contract right from the start....I'm sure Presti will have the contract printed by June 30th if its not already on his desk

@justin
We are a great, exciting team, but we really have no bearing yet as to the desirability of OKC or the Thunder. Sure, we do all the right things, but for a lot of guys, it's all about market size and that big name brand (Knicks, Lakers, Celtics).

I would be very displeased if we didn't do anything significant this summer, but I do have faith in Presti. There are a lot of things in our favor, and even if we are forced to play at the small stakes table, we can win big if we play our cards right.

@The Don
I think part of the worry is that even asking could be perceived as a slight. Honestly, he's worth the max, we can afford it, and it won't even go into affect for another year after this summer. What reason would we even have to ask him to take less before we have shown a willingness to spend or trade to improve the team around him?

@justin

You didn't ready my original comment or you have comprehension problems

@Keith

That scenario (no acquisitions at all) would really put me off this team..

Durant will get the max. There is no reason not to pay him, nor is there anything to really say "take a 2 million cut and we'll definitely make this team a champion." This offseason is perhaps the last time we'll have to add a significant piece, and if he takes a cut only to watch Presti pick up mid-level players, he'd have to be upset.

As much as I would love Bosh, and as much as I think this is the ideal situation for him (outside of a Wade-Lebron-Bosh dynasty), there is a very real possibility we don't get much of anything in the offseason. I'll be upset if it's the case, but I'm not naive enough to think Presti can just steal whomever he wants once he has that cap space ready to work with.

He is saying the right things now but don't be surprised if he decides not to sign an extension and instead chooses to play 1 more year in OKC (team option) and then look at what is available in 2011.

There are going to be alot of long term season tickets that hang in the balance based on whether or not Durant is signed to a long term contract.

I think the San Antonio model worked well, and well, Presti knows something about that.

If OKC really needed money that bad wouldn't they have jacked up ticket prices for next year. With the progress they made this year they could have justified it, but they left kept the current prices.

JUST PAY THE DURANTULA!

The budget challenge is perhaps bigger than normal when you choose to load all your salary renewals real close together and choose a "core" that is probably larger than normal. So if this was the design, then make it work.

In the words of Teddy KGB "Pay this man his money."

That is all.

Jim Rome is Burning just had Jimbo Slice on for an interview and an entire segment talking about the Thunder as the next "dynasty" team. Make sure to catch the replay if you missed it.

@The DON

That worked real well with Joe Johnson didn't it? Phoenix asked him to take a pay cut and lost him.

justin :
How many young players take pay cuts? I don’t think that’s a realistic expectation.

Ok then lets not even bother asking him based on your assumption that young players just never take paycuts and just hand him the max deal while having that "what if" question always lingering in the backs of our minds

@Crow

Put faith in one hand and crap in the other...offer KD less than the max and guess which one your going to end up with

If you were ever to try to sell an idea based on total faith this is the summer to do it before that gets tested / tough decisions happen than KD might not really want.

It might be hard to sell taking less than the max based on future action. Unless you have total faith. Which he might.

you offer Durant the max for as long as possible. don't offer him anything but max. when you get lucky and find a player like him in the draft you don't risk offending him. KD is worth more to this franchise than his contract...so what ever your paying him it's worth it

If you specifically showed you could sign Green at the same time he might take a modest pay cut.

Or if he also sees Westbrook is more important that might be an argument for him wanting to wait til summer 2011 when Westbrook could get an extension or "pass".

How many young players take pay cuts? I don't think that's a realistic expectation.

@gazelle

Exactly

You sit him down and say look, if you want the max deal it's yours, but if you wish to leave some money on the table we would use that to give you better teammates and a better chance at winning a championship

I also think KD would probably go for that

Regardless of how much we offer KD is a rich man, it comes down to how much he cares about money, is taking a 25% cut from max salary which still pays him tens of millions and he will never have work a day in his life after he retires if he manages his money well enough, or does he need every last dollar he can get?

Scratch that, it runs thru 2014.

And his next shoe deal will play some role in all this.
What is he selling now, is the company happy with the rate of return, do they offer equal or bigger money next time or not, for him in OKC or elsewhere. I think that deal has 2 years left but I am not sure.

Durant might take a little less annual salary. Really how many years he actually wants might be the bigger issue with him possibly wanting less after his agent perhaps gives his take at the value of flexibility.

I am not going to worry much right now about what Presti will do with Green. I'll wait 'til he acts one way or another to say much more. They do hold the leverage. And as little as White has been used he is part of that leverage.

If you keep Durant, Westbrook, Green and Harden into the second phase of their window when they are all on second contracts then you probably can only pay one more big- and the plan may well be for it to be Ibaka. This might really be it except for the draft picks. (Then you eventually get to phase 3 when some will have to go.)

You can add a different piece in the next 1, 2, maybe 3 years. Or subtract while adding.

@justin
I don't think it's necessary to pencil him in at long term starter with 7 per year. If he ultimately can't hack it in the starting lineup, a contract of that size (and likely after the highest year) would be easily trade-able. The point is getting the extension done now is a good idea for chemistry, and Green being worth 7 million in the NBA isn't that hard.

@Crow
That would be nice to attempt, but I think it's only a last resort if Green won't sign this offseason. We hold all the leverage next year, and the only way he makes more than the 7 or so I have in mind now is if Presti caves to his agent or he makes a significant jump next year. The former isn't likely, and the latter forces him to prove his worth.

best option is to approach him with a deal like tim duncans, see if KD is willing to leave a few million on the table in order to allow the team just that little bit of financial flexibility it takes to sign valuable role players and ensure that good teammates can be kept around. I think KD would go for it.

Maybe you wait til Jan/Feb 2011 and see where Green is and where Ibaka is and if you can get a top shelf big for some combo of Green, one of the expiring Center deals and whatever else interests the other team enough to do it.

More specifically, the team can't afford a $7 million bench player with all the other extensions and accomodating another piece at center.

@f5alcon

Yes, and he was / is vastly overpaid.

@justin
nick collison is almost 7 mil bench player

@Crow
id rather have westbrook then green and harden, he is harder to replace, any other PG would have to learn the system, a PF or SG we could plug in more players and it be fine.

Is Jeff Green worth even $7 million to this team? Is he the long term PF solution? That's the real question that's going to have to be asked. This team can't afford a $7 million bench player..

I don't think Green would be better than Aldridge in any situation..

Westbrook isn't as good as Rondo, and won't get more unless he really explodes next season. I don't think Russ is on the level of D. Williams and C. Paul as point guards, he won't get the max..

If you want to keep Westbrook they might need to trade one of Green or Harden at some point. Don't have to, unless they have a fixed budget that is too low to do that and have enough elsewhere. They probably will try to use draft picks and vet minimums as much as possible and that is smart as long as you don't over do what you expect from it.

With all the future contract pressures I'd really go full-out to win next season. Add at least one moderate to big minute guy.

Landry is 11th highest on that list. Wonder what he'll get.

There are 40 guys 6-7 to 6-10 who play 25+ minutes and get 10+ shots per game and Green is one... but he has the 7th lowest PER in that group.

Their pts, rebs, assist stats are pretty close. Neither is a stellar defender but Williams is probably enough to be considered good at SF defense and better at it than Green at PF.

@Joe
Absolutely Joe. I think if we lose one player out of this core, it could be Westbrook. He's trending towards being an elite point guard and he's going to want to get paid.