Kevin Durant has just announced on The Player’s Tribune that he will be leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder to sign with the Golden State Warriors. Durant will sign a two-year contract worth 54.3 million dollars with an opt-out clause after the first year.
The move will now make Golden State prohibited favorites to win the NBA Championship. Since Durant’s move, Vegas has given the Warriors 4-5 odds to win the title with the Cleveland Cavaliers second favorites at 3-1.
Golden State’s New Look Team
With Durant signing with the Warriors, Golden State will have to move some pieces in order to create the cap room to get him on the roster. The Warriors will have to trade Andrew Bogut who is on the books for 11 million dollars. Harrison Barnes, who they originally made a qualifying offer to but have since renounced it to make him an unrestricted free agent, will also be headed out the door. Barnes is likely headed to the Dallas Mavericks, who offered him a max contract of four-years worth 95 million dollars.
Forget The Death Lineup, How About The Apocalypse Lineup
The Warriors became famous for their aptly-named “Death Lineup”, a lineup in which the team went small. Once this lineup went out, the games were practically put to bed since no one had an answer for it. That lineup consisted of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes, and Draymond Green.
Now, with Barnes gone, Durant is likely to slide right in where Barnes is and gives the Warriors four deadly shooters from the perimeter with this lineup.
Durant's Reasons For Leaving
Kevin Durant wrote on The Player's Tribune his piece titled "My Next Chapter", in it, he said this: "The primary mandate I had for myself in making this decision was to have it based on the potential for my growth as a player — as that has always steered me in the right direction. But I am also at a point in my life where it is of equal importance to find an opportunity that encourages my evolution as a man: moving out of my comfort zone to a new city and community which offers the greatest potential for my contribution and personal growth. With this in mind, I have decided that I am going to join the Golden State Warriors."