Tuesday Bolts – 8.25.15
Matt Moore on KD’s free agency: “So everyone, technically, has a shot at Durant. You’re not absolutely out of the conversation if your cap is tied up. On the other hand, if your team clears a huge amount of cap space in pursuit of Durant, and they don’t get him, there’s pressure to spend that money. Teams have done better in recent years at not just using up cap space to use it up, but there is still that pressure to use the assets available to make your team as good as it can be. And down that path lies doom. Teams have long sought the B or C level talent after striking out on free agents and signing unworthy players to huge long-term contracts.”
John Wall and KD played in a flag football game together no naturally…: “Wall didn’t just spend time catching passes, though. At one point, he and Durant, a guy that Wizards fans seem to be mildly interested in having play with the team at some point in his career, squared off for a jump ball and, in the process, came extremely close to high-fiving/holding hands/grasping forearms. … The result of that play is unknown, but one would think the height differential between the two NBA players would have led to Durant hauling in the pass. However — and more importantly — it was just another small interaction between Wall and Durant that could end up having major consequences in the future.”
EOB Podcast on the West, which contains plenty of Kanter talk.
Kevin Durant had himself quite a 20-game stretch.
Zach Harper of CBSSports.com grading OKC’s offseason: “If Durant and Westbrook are both healthy, and if Ibaka doesn’t have any problems this year, how good is this Thunder team? Well, they have incredible depth at every single position. They may be the only team that legitimately goes three deep at every spot. They have two of the six or seven best players in the world. They have one of the best defensive presences in the NBA protecting the rim. No doubt about it, the Thunder are a title contender if they’re healthy. And you have to believe that playing with Westbrook and being on a title contender holds a lot of weight when it comes to Durant re-signing next summer. That is unless you’re the team trying to lure him away.”
