The Golden State Warriors saw their 2023-24 season end earlier than expected. The Warriors were ousted in the opening round of the Play-In Tournament with a 118-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
While Stephen Curry continued to play at an elite level this year, the same can’t be said about his “big three” counterparts.
Klay Thompson hasn’t been the same player since suffering multiple major injuries, and his season culminated in an 0-for-10 performance in the Warriors’ loss to the Kings. Then there’s Draymond Green, who continued to make an impact on the game when he was on the court — but he struggled to stay out of trouble.
Green was suspended multiple times throughout the season for altercations on-court altercations, and the Warriors were 13-14 when Green didn’t play.
Following the Warriors’ loss, it felt like some serious changes could be coming to their roster in 2024-25. While it was initially suspected those changes would include a breaking up of the roster that has seen much success over the last decade, a recent report from a local Bay Area reporter suggests they could actually try to reprise one of the best roster cores in NBA history.
Following the Phoenix Suns’ exit from the playoffs, a four-game sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves, 95.7-FM The Game’s Mark Willard spoke about the possibility of the Warriors bringing back superstar Kevin Durant.
While the idea seems far-fetched, Willard made it clear that it’s not as unrealistic as it sounds.
“I’ve been trying my best to burn up the lines, and this is all I’ll say,” Willard said. “The longer I go, the more people I talk to, the more I try to learn about all the ins and outs of it, I’m telling you right now that this Kevin Durant thing could happen. This is realistic.”
Durant famously signed with the Warriors in the 2016 offseason following his Oklahoma City Thunder blowing a 3-1 lead against the Warriors in the playoffs. Durant joined the team that had just won 73 games in the regular season, but blew a 3-1 lead of their own in the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
With Durant in tow, the Warriors weren’t blowing any leads, though. The Warriors would win back-to-back NBA Finals, before injuries derailed their chance for a three-peat in an eventual NBA Finals loss to the Toronto Raptors.
Durant then formed a new “big three” in Brooklyn with Kyrie Irving (and later James Harden) in what turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments in NBA history. Durant requested a trade in 2022, and ended up going to the Phoenix Suns ahead of the trade deadline to form another superteam alongside Devin Booker and Chris Paul. When the Suns were ousted in the playoffs by the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets, they traded for Bradley Beal to form a new superteam.
After another disappointing exit, could Durant attempt to return to the only franchise that’s allowed him to experience postseason success? Would the Warriors even consider taking on the final two years and more than $100 million left on his contract? Dan Dibley, Willard’s co-host, thinks this move is possible.
“Will (the Suns) trade Kevin Durant? I would put that right now at a safe 50/50,” Dibley said. “If they are gonna trade Kevin Durant, I would give the Warriors more than a fighting chance to reacquire him. KD liked playing with Steph, we know that. KD’s had success playing for Golden State, we know that. The Warriors do have some attractive assets… And the final piece of it is the Warriors’ owner Joe Lacob, he is aggressive… He is gonna try to do something to make something happen. He’s not just gonna sit on his hands and hope (Andrew) Wiggins plays harder next year.
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