By now, you’ve probably heard about the possibility of Kevin Durant joining the Los Angeles Lakers next year as KD is looming to become one of the most talented free agents in history in what could go down as the biggest free agent market.
Why? It could include Kyrie Iring, Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler and yes, Kevin Durant.
And yes, the Lakers are the leading candidate to land one of those big hits above owing to the fact that they’ve successfully cleared up salary cap space after waiving Luol Deng.
And yes, Kevin Durant has been believed to be among the top targets of the Lakers. While seeing the possibility of KD forming a seemingly unstoppable duo alongside LeBron James is an awe to behold, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves because there’s no solid lead yet that Kevin Durant will abandon the Golden State Warriors next year.
And it won’t make any sense if KD does leave Oakland because his rather ridiculed decision to join the Warriors has enabled him to win two championships and two Finals MVP awards in the last two season.
And yes, Golden State is seasoned to win a rare three-peat this season so if you were KD, would you actually leave a team where you’ve been winning??
The LeBron James Factor
Okay. Let’s put it this way, ladies and gentlemen. We all know how great a LeBron James-Kevin Durant tandem is.
We’ve seen them dominate games as teammates with Team USA. However, one of the reasons why Kevin Durant shouldn’t be even thinking about joining the Lakers is none other than LeBron James himself. Why?
There’s no way on Earth that Durant would fit into a LeBron James-led Lakers next year because, for one, LeBon James would be around for the next four seasons which means KD would play second fiddle next to LeBron.
And even after LeBron James calls it a career eventually, KD won’t be able to lead the Lakers forward because by then, Brandon Ingram has been developed into a full-blown star, the next Kevin Durant as we call him this early.
And frankly, Lakers fans won’t forget the fact that KD passed on joining the Lakers in 2016 and chose an easier path towards a championship.
He’s winning in Oakland
As simple as that.
At the end of the day, it should go down to deciding which could be more beneficial for Kevin Durant. Sure, his decision to take an easy path towards a championship made him the most hated player in NBA history but who cares? The decision produced two championships without KD needing to score because he has Steph Curry and Klay Thompson as his teammates.
Then again, he came within a game away from dethroning the Warriors back in 2016. Had he stayed for one more season in Oklahoma City, he could have won a championship for the franchise that drafted him.
So yeah, there’s that.
