They offered Barnes. He turned it down waiting for the big money this year. Even if he would have signed for less money it would have been easy to trade him on a good contract, so either way they could have still signed Durant.
I wouldn't surprised if it was actually Jerry West's call on Saturday that made a bigger difference. In addition to the gigantic cred West has a former great player and one of the greatest executives, he told Durant how it feels to have a legacy of always coming up short (West lost 7 Finals to the Celtics dynasty of the '60s) and how the losses still eat at him. People can talk about how being part of a "superteam" cheapens wins, but it really doesn't. Russell is seen as the great winner of that era, West is often ignored when it comes to lists of the ten greatest players (whereas, if he had won all those titles the Celtics won, he'd probably be a fixture in the top five). It probably had an impact.
The only reason this was possible is because Steph is on a stupid silly contract. If he was getting paid what he SHOULD be getting paid, they couldn't afford Durant.
You gotta think there are some old Sonic fans who are just laughing at the Thunder for losing there best player specially at Clay who they hate for moving the Sonics from Seattle.
The NFL has it so nice in that when you franhcise someone, but may not end up with your team next season, you get additional draft pick compensation for him. I get the NFL has a lot more rounds than the NBA, but this is something that should happen. How do small market teams that aren't immediate championship contenders succeed in the league? Answer: They don't. My interest with this move in the NBA is as low as it gets. May not even care to watch the league because we know it will be Warriors vs Cavs again and again and again. Love the Blazers, but they are made to flounder like most small market teams.
So Westbrook is totally gone next year, right? That team is going to be a cellar dweller for a few years. Be interesting to so how many of their fans stick around.
At least we get to watch OKC whither and die. Those fans won't support a shit team. Next season Westbrook will leave. They need to trade Westbrook. They could potentially lose two top 5 talents and get nothing in return. As much as LMA stung, can you imagine if Dame had left the following summer?
They offered Barnes a trade-able contract. He turned it down because he wanted the max, which he would have signed. That was his demand to the Warriors, and the Warriors chose not to do that. Barnes even at last year's max might not have been trade-able...supposedly, the Thunder could have acquired Al Horford if they could have dumped Kanter's max deal (and replacing Kanter with Horford would have propelled the Thunder to the top of the NBA heap and surely meant Durant stayed). But they couldn't find a buyer. That's the risk--not all "cheaper maxes" are trade-able.
Via Stein Marc Stein ✔ @ESPNSteinLine Sources say Dallas, furthermore, has emerged as a strong potential trade destination for Andrew Bogut, who the Warriors must now move. Cuban i have always been a fan of as a personality but if he does this then F him and the Mavs
Not taking Durant started a chain of events by which we ended up with Lillard, who wants to be a Blazer for life
I wonder what kind of compensation they would be giving him for taking on Bogut's expiring contract. Maybe draft picks are involved as part of the deal.
