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Jordan Poole #3 of the Golden State Warriors is congratulated by Klay Thompson #11 and Draymond Green #23 after making a three point basket against the Utah Jazz
Steph Curry spoke out recently and confirmed that the Golden State Warriors were in fact seeking trade opportunities to acquire Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets this summer in a profile he did with Rolling Stone. Curry noted that while the Warriors were interested in landing Durant, his next thought went to what that would mean what the Dubs would have to give up to acquire KD.
The Warriors already have some question marks about what they will do with some imminent roster moves because in the next two seasons, four key Warriors players are going to be in need of contract extensions – Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, and Andrew Wiggins. . Despite Golden State’s willingness to dip into the luxury tax, they won’t be able to afford all four which has other NBA executives predicting Poole could look to sign elsewhere.
Executive Floats Idea Warriors Replace Poole with KD
If Jordan Poole were to leave Golden State or continue to imagine it one NBA executive told Heavy’s Sean Deveney, that the team could again link themselves to Kevin Durant and that the 12-Time All-Star could again replace Poole should he look elsewhere like Harrison Barnes did.
“Poole, though, could have some [Harrison] Barnes in him,” the executive explained. “He got to show what he can do a bit when everyone was hurt and the team was bad, but he got pushed back within the team once Klay was healthy and everyone was talking about Wiggins and all. It depends on how they handle this contract. But if he gets the sense they don’t want him, yeah, he is the one I could imagine looking elsewhere, like Barnes did. Of course, they replaced Barnes with Durant. Maybe they’ll do the same with Poole.”
It’s important to note that while another Western Conference executive floated the idea that the salary cap concerns for Golden State would still be a concern if they went with Durant over Poole. They would still have major decisions to make regarding Green, Thompson, and Wiggins.
Warriors Remain Interested in Kevin Durant Reunion
One thing is for sure, that the Golden State Warriors would in fact be interested in a reunion with Kevin Durant. Steph Curry confirmed that this week and whether it was to replace Poole or Poole being involved in a Durant deal, the Warriors core was interested in doing what it needed to bring Kevin Durant back to the Bay.
“There was a conversation internally among us about ‘If he was available, would you?’ Every team has those conversations, and obviously, in our situation, they’re gonna call me and ask me, ‘How do you feel about it?’ I was never hesitant,” Curry explained. “The idea of playing with KD and knowing who he is as a person, from our history in those three years, I think KD’s a really good dude.”
Curry made sure to clarify that trading for Durant would mean no disrespect for any of his current teammates and that he still believes the team can run it back next season, but he also wouldn’t object to doing what it needed to in order to trade for Durant.
“And if you said, ‘Oh, KD’s coming back, and we’re gonna play with him,’ I had so much fun playing with him those three years, I’d be like, ‘Hell, yeah!’ Then you have to think: What does that actually mean? What does it look like? You tell me I’m playing with [current Warriors teammates Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, and Draymond Green], I’m like, ‘Hell, yeah!’ There are all types of emotions and things that happen to the league. And if anybody’s saying that you wouldn’t entertain that conversation — no disrespect to anybody on our team — but you don’t know how things work. But you also understand, like, if we run this thing back, I’ve got complete confidence in my team that we can win it again, as constructed,”
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