Monday Bolts – 6.6.16
Bill Simmons: “And that’s how Oklahoma City missed the Finals — because a historically
great team dug deep and turned a close-out game into a game of H-O-R-S-E. Game 6 has already earned a permanent spot on the short list of historic WTF Playoff Games, right there with Game 5 of ’87 Celts-Pistons, Game 7 of ’00 Blazers-Lakers, Game 5 of ’07 Pistons-Cavs, Game 1 of ’95 Magic-Rockets, Game 6 of ’13 Heat-Spurs, and a few others that live forever on NBA TV. I thought OKC would have beaten Cleveland. We’ll never know.”
Sean Deveney of Sporting News: “The one-year contract does make the most sense for Durant, both in terms of figuring out where the Thunder are heading and getting the most bang out of his next big deal. In the end, he might well decide that it is in his best interests. But it’s important to remember that there is risk attached to that approach, and it doesn’t quite mesh with Durant’s low-key personality.”
Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders: “As the Thunder enter a long summer pondering what could have been and what may have gone wrong, the franchise will have some very important questions to answer. What may serve the Thunder best would be acquiring a floor general who could share the floor with Durant and Westbrook and appropriately feed the two in the decisive moments of a game. What haunted the Thunder over the course of the final three games of their series with the Warriors was questionable decision-making and shot-taking when things were hanging in the balance. It may be easier said than done, but the answer there seems to be putting the ball in the hands of a better decision maker when things matter.”
Claire McNear of The Ringer: “It’s a reasonable enough line of thinking: The nation’s capital is Durant’s hometown; John Wall has made it clear that he wants to play with him; and the team could become an instant contender in the Eastern Conference. So the only reason KD wouldn’t want to join the Wizards must be money, right? If fans could just pull something together — say, an extra $20 million — there is simply no way Durant could resist the call of the District. Enter D.C. rapper Paperboy Prince of the Suburbs (not to be confused with Paperboy Prince of the Cool Hip City), who has launched a GoFundMe to do just that. (Since this fund cannot actually contribute to KD’s contract, it has pledged to use the money to buy Wizards tickets for D.C.–area kids.) Unfortunately, the KD2DC movement, uh, well, hasn’t taken off just yet. (At press time, he was still $19,999,916 short.) Still, points for effort.”
Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News: “Put it this way: He could sign a five-year extension today for $149 million. That’s significantly more than an outside team can pay him. And, yes, we can all live comfortably on $149 million. But if Durant signs to play another year in Oklahoma City (technically a two-year deal that he can opt out of next summer), then in 2017 that five-year deal he can sign becomes $228 million. So in order to be convinced that he should take his game elsewhere, Durant’s going to have to really be convinced that these are great people to be around.”
