Durant opts for Warriors – The Providence Journal
One of the most star-studded sales jobs in professional sports history was not enough to lure Kevin Durant to Boston.
Two days after making the biggest free agent acquisition in franchise history when Al Horford agreed to a four-year, $113-millon contract with the Celtics, the team learned that Durant has opted to head to the Golden State Warriors.
Durant announced his decision on The Players’ Tribune website late Monday morning.
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge spared neither expense nor connection on Saturday when Patriots quarterback Tom Brady accompanied the team contingent of Celtics players, which included Jae Crowder, Kelly Olynyk, Marcus Smart and Isaiah Thomas, to Long Island to meet with Durant. Red Sox slugger David Ortiz and Patriots receiver Julian Edelman also reached out to Durant on social media over the 24 hours that followed.
Ultimately, however, the tug of joining a super team in Oakland – including reigning MVP Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson – proved to be too much of an obstacle to overcome in what would have capped a transformational weekend in Celtics history.
A generational player, Durant has averaged 27.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in nine years playing for the Seattle SuperSonics/OKC Thunder. Originally drafted one spot ahead of Horford in 2007, he was reportedly Ainge’s top target – above No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden – heading into the draft lottery where the Celtics dropped to the fifth spot.
Ainge was able to use that No. 5 pick, a young stable of players and future draft picks to orchestrate one of the greatest one-season turnarounds in sports history when he acquired future Hall of Famers Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett via trade and the Celtics won the 17th championship in franchise history.
This weekend, Ainge threatened to pull off a virtual repeat of the feat that many thought could not be duplicated. Even falling short of what would have been the remarkable double, reaching an agreement with Horford and being in the top-three mix for Durant represents a major step forward in the team’s rebuild.
While the Celtics could not get a seat at the negotiating table with second-tier free agents such as Greg Monroe – who wound up signing with the Milwaukee Bucks – last summer, the oncourt progress under Brad Stevens the past season-and-a-half following the trades of Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green, and the improved perception of the franchise with the help of perpetual towel-waving from Thomas among his peers, got them an audience with both Horford and Durant.
Page 2 of 2 – The Celtics vaulted to the group of frontrunners for Horford Friday when the Atlanta Hawks made a move that seemingly backfired immediately as they signed Dwight Howard to a three-year, $70-millon deal. But Boston was considered the darkest horse in the barn among the six teams granted meetings with Durant during his holiday weekend in the Hamptons.
That appeared to shift early Saturday evening, however, when Horford – who is a friend of Durant’s – chose Boston over the Washington Wizards and a last-ditch ovation from the Hawks to keep him in Atlanta. Combined with the massive presentation that included Brady – whom Durant has called his “favorite professional athlete” – Boston shot to the front pack in the Durant Derby, along with the Thunder and Warriors.
While Durant’s decision comes as a disappointment to those who had visions of becoming an instant title contender dancing through their heads, the net of Horford still represents a tremendous addition for a franchise that had never before lured an upper-tier free agent in his prime.
Horford’s presence alone makes Boston perhaps the biggest threat to the stranglehold the defending NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers have held over the Eastern Conference the past two years.
With Ainge’s careful roster management over the past three years, and collection of below-market contracts, he still has the ability to add to this upcoming season’s team and be a major player next summer when he will likely again have a top-five lottery draft pick from the Nets and an open a maximum salary cap slot.
