It takes a lot of hard work and determination to win a championship in any sport. In the NBA, winning a title is not easy, as only 11 different franchises have won more than one title.
The Golden State Warriors on the other hand make winning championships look simplistic, as they recently passed the Chicago Bulls for the third-most championships in NBA history, winning the 2022 NBA Finals and claiming their seventh championship in team history, fourth in the last eight seasons.
Injuries derailed things for this franchise for a little bit, but the Warriors once again sit at the top of the NBA world and they entered this offseason in an intriguing position.
Paying over $170 million in luxury taxes this past season, Golden State’s ownership has proven that they will be willing to spend in order to compete for championships and this was very apparent when the team signed multi-time All-Star and former league MVP Kevin Durant in 2016.
The Warriors made the NBA Finals each of the three seasons Durant was on their roster, winning two titles in 2017 and 2018. The All-Star forward then departed for the Brooklyn Nets following the 2019 NBA Finals, a series in which Durant suffered a torn right Achilles tendon.
Since returning from this injury, Kevin Durant has been sensational in a Nets uniform, but things have not been “smooth sailing” for Brooklyn in recent years.
Between losing early on in the playoffs, the James Harden trade not working in their favor and Kyrie Irving sitting out most of last season due to vaccine requirements in New York City, a lot of tension had been boiling up within this organization, which is why Durant requested a trade in June ahead of the start of free agency.
This news shocked almost everyone in the league simply because a player of Durant’s caliber almost never hits the trade market. Almost every team in the league began to assemble their best trade package and inquire about the Nets All-Star, seeing if they had a legitimate shot to pull off a massive offseason trade with the Nets.
While negotiation may have never been held, the Golden State Warriors were one of those teams to show interest in Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry recently spoke with Rolling Stoneopening up about both his and the team’s interest to possibly reunite with Durant.
“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,’” Curry said. “I was never hesitant. 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… I love that dude.
“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!'”
The idea of the Warriors possibly getting involved in trade negotiations with the Nets for Durant was something many began to speculate a week or so after the All-Star requested a trade from Brooklyn, even though Golden State was coming off another title run.
Continuing to compete at the highest-level possible is what the Warriors want right now, especially since Curry, Thompson and Green are not getting any younger, but going after Durant would have likely meant that the Warriors would lose key, young talents like Andrew Wiggins , Jordan Poole and others who were instrumental in their efforts to win another championship.
Steph went on to tell Rolling Stone that the idea of ”running things back” with the team they have is also very appealing and that he has complete confidence that Golden State can win another title with their roster as constructed.
Since requesting a trade and presenting the Nets with an ultimatum for him to stay, one that would have resulted in GM Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash being fired, Kevin Durant and his management team have seemed to smooth things over with Brooklyn, as the two sides came to an agreement to move forward in August.
Kevin Durant remains the face of the Brooklyn Nets heading into the 2022-23 season and as for the Golden State Warriors, they once again enter the new NBA season as the team everyone is chasing. A reunion between the Warriors and Durant could have worked, but at the end of the day, the Warriors prioritized their championship roster and what they are building for the future.
.