Kevin Durant Helped Dallas More than Golden State
Kevin Durant made a huge splash in NBA free agency on July 4th when he announced that he would be teaming up with the team that just came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat his team in the Western Conference Finals. The move boosts Golden State to heavy favorites to win the NBA Finals. Interestingly enough, Kevin Durant may have helped another team more than he did Golden State.
When Kevin Durant decided to join the Warriors, it obviously meant others had to go. Harrison Barnes was the most obvious departure considering they play the same position.
Andrew Bogut was another guy the Warriors had to dump off in this deal in the process. Obviously, they wanted to keep their core of guys together to be the elite team they’re expected to be.
Bogut was not part of that plan. The problem was that his contract was not up, so the Warriors had to trade him. This is where things got interesting.
The Warriors were in a position where they were forced to match the Mavericks’ max offer to Barnes, and it circulated that they may not match it whether they signed Durant or not.
After Dallas had their free agency misfortunes, this was their only real hope to acquire a quality player in free agency. What were the odds of Kevin Durant actually leaving Oklahoma City though? At this point, not very high.
Suddenly, on the 4th of July, Kevin Durant revealed that he would be joining Golden State. That same day, Barnes agreed to a four-year maximum deal with the Dallas Mavericks.
Andrew Bogut then had a choice between the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks. The Warriors granted him this more than likely because they felt bad for just dumping him off.
Of course, he chose to join Barnes and join Dallas. In the end, Dallas landed him for basically nothing as both Dallas and Golden State swapped second round picks in the deal.
Now, looking into next year, who did it really help more? The Warriors are now loaded. That goes without being said, but when Andrew Bogut got injured in the finals, it all went down hill.
Bogut was a huge part of what the Warriors did. The lead they held in the finals over the Cavs diminished very quickly once he went down as having no rim protector really hurt them.
With the departure of Bogut, the Warriors clearly knew they were thin at the center position. They quickly brought in Zaza Pachulia and David West to help bolster the front court.
Not to knock those players, but they are no Andrew Bogut. Their center position will certainly be very thin this season.
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Now for the Mavericks, Kevin Durant signing with the Warriors granted them a roster that wasn’t laughable. Without Barnes and Bogut, they were looking at having to start Justin Andseron and rookie AJ Hammons or Salah Mejri.
Instead, they present one of the better defensive starting lineups in the NBA. Durant joining Golden State gave Dallas their rim protector they’ve been searching for over the past few years. In Barnes, they signed their maximum deal player that they were desperately trying to do the whole free agency period.
Kevin Durant certainly gave the Warriors another amazing scorer, but did he make them way too thin at certain positions? That is to be determined.
Dallas cannot have any complaints about their side of the deal. This makes them relevant. Dallas could be a dark horse type of team this year, and it wouldn’t be possible without the Durant deal.
It’s hard to say Durant signing to somewhere actually helps another team more given his skills, but it remains to be seen if the center position will haunt them this year.
Either way, Dallas will thrive off their two new guys. Maybe Kevin Durant payed back his college state in a way he didn’t even realize.