Everything Playoffs

[Rudy Bargnani]

I'm not saying he won't get paid but I think you're wrong. A torn Achilles is a long road back for a 30 year old. This is a deep class. Kawhi moves to #1 now.

He might not play next year.

Durant still has a $31,500,000 player option for next year. Theoretically he could opt in, cost GS a boat load of money on luxury taxes and leave in a year. If it’s an Achilles he’s not playing next year anyway.

[golden]

Durant still has a $31,500,000 player option for next year. Theoretically he could opt in, cost GS a boat load of money on luxury taxes and leave in a year. If it’s an Achilles he’s not playing next year anyway.

The smartest move would be to take the 5 year max contract with Golden State.

[Apollo]

The smartest move would be to take the 5 year max contract with Golden State.

You're assuming they make the offer to a guy who may have just tore his Achilles. The first year of the contract they're paying him to recover. The second year they don't know for sure what they're getting because an Achilles tear is one of the worst basketball injuries there is.He's also 32 years old then with three years left. Plus they need to re-sign Klay and then Dray over the next two years as well.

[Rudy Bargnani]

I read the total cost for golden state to keep durant including salary and luxury taxes is $1billion. That’s...a lot. Obviously lots of assumptions on how long everyone stays and what Draymond signs for but if they keep the band together and are repeater tax for the future the cost to keep KD is a lot. It will be fashionable to say publicly nothing has changed they want KD there forever etc. But that’s a lot of money.

[planetmars]

You're assuming they make the offer to a guy who may have just tore his Achilles. The first year of the contract they're paying him to recover. The second year they don't know for sure what they're getting because an Achilles tear is one of the worst basketball injuries there is.He's also 32 years old then with three years left. Plus they need to re-sign Klay and then Dray over the next two years as well.

Yah but he's a top 1-2-3 player in the NBA. You bet on him coming back.. because those guys are so damn rare. Worth paying the extra $35M or whatever it is as an insurance to keep him long term.

If I was running the Knicks or Clippers, or some other team.. that's the approach I'm taking in the off season. Butter him up by telling him he'll get paid and the insurance of a max deal not to play. They could even give him a no trade clause. A year is not long in the NBA. Just use that year to develop internal guys or try to sway others to come join KD when he's healthy.

And as you said.. I don't think the Warriors can do that since their tax bill is so crazy so helps with any bidding war there.

[Bendit]

Anyone know if the doctor/trainer signed off on KD playing .... obviously as minimal risk?

[octothorp]

One team that I imagine is exiting the Durant sweepstakes right now is the Lakers; they're in win-now mode, and if Durant's 1-2 years getting back to full health, that's not going to work with their timelines or salary situation. I think there's definitely the possibility for a team like the Knicks to swoop in with a five year max where a lot of teams are going to balk because of the timeline or the uncertainty.

One place it does create a problem right now is that he needs to make his decision about opting out (which is now no longer a clear best decision) before free agency, and he's now less certain about what offers he's going to get. I expect teams like the Knicks to do their best to skirt the tampering rules to make it known that this injury doesn't change any of their plans regarding Durant in the offseason.

[slaw]

Anyone know if the doctor/trainer signed off on KD playing .... obviously as minimal risk?

They said the medical staff "cleared him". Who knows what that means?

I heard a joke ages ago about Labor Day being the most magical day of the year in the NFL because, miraculously, all the players got healthy somehow and were cleared to play by the doctors for the opening game.

[Apollo]

I think second (independent) opinions might catch on now. Kawhi got one and was slandered in the media and tossed under the bus by teammates. KD didn't and was seriously injured.

[GOLDBLUM]

I think second (independent) opinions might catch on now. Kawhi got one and was slandered in the media and tossed under the bus by teammates. KD didn't and was seriously injured.

Yeah, this whole thing is extremely vindicating of Kawhi’s previous situation.

[S.R.]

No matter who cleared him and the fact that Durant had a say (or the primary say), obviously the medical diagnoses was completely off.

The original injury, a lot of people thought that was for sure an achilles. GS was so vague about it, some kind of strained calf? But clearly nobody told Kevin Durant "Hey, if you come back early, there's a ___% chance you tear your achilles in two and miss a year of basketball." But this happened pretty much as soon as he tried to actually plant and push off on that leg. I mean he was just kind of cruising around the floor before that taking jumpers. GS can cry all they want and all the kumbaya speeches are out in full force, but the main culprit here has to be the misdiagnoses/inaccurate assessment of the risk of an early return, and that's 100% on the team's medical staff.

[GOLDBLUM]

Nick's understandably taking a lot of flack for the timeout he took.

One thing on my brain that I haven't seen exactly articulated ... we've been taking care of Kawhi's health literally every possible step of the way this year. On one hand, that timeout 100% fucked our momentum and swung the game. On the other hand, to see KD go down and to know that Kawhi is definitely not 100 and then coming up to what could be the final, leave it all on the line push for victory, I hold some forgiveness for NN looking to get Kawhi a breather. You can say we let Curry and Klay catch their breath and roast us, and that's the truth, but better that than to have Kawhi pull up lame and end his season the way Durant ended his. Sure, it's an outlier of a situation that that would've happened, but I imagine on some even unconscious level, that was Nick's thinking. Not excusing it, just saying, not gonna crucify him. And we still have two more opportunities to deliver. I'm ok with kid gloves right to the finish line if it a) brings us a championship and b) convinces Kawhi that, unlike some other franchises, management and the coaching staff 100% has their players health and best interests in mind.

[GOLDBLUM]

No matter who cleared him and the fact that Durant had a say (or the primary say), obviously the medical diagnoses was completely off.

The original injury, a lot of people thought that was for sure an achilles. GS was so vague about it, some kind of strained calf? But clearly nobody told Kevin Durant "Hey, if you come back early, there's a ___% chance you tear your achilles in two and miss a year of basketball." But this happened pretty much as soon as he tried to actually plant and push off on that leg. I mean he was just kind of cruising around the floor before that taking jumpers. GS can cry all they want and all the kumbaya speeches are out in full force, but the main culprit here has to be the misdiagnoses/inaccurate assessment of the risk of an early return, and that's 100% on the team's medical staff.

Not trying to be glib S.R., but why is that clear? How do you know he wasn't told approximately that and just still wanted to play? I'd imagine the staff entirely would've informed him of the level of risk he might be taking. You think they just said, "Yup, you're good, have at 'er!" ... ?

[Demographic Shift]

One team that I imagine is exiting the Durant sweepstakes right now is the Lakers; they're in win-now mode, and if Durant's 1-2 years getting back to full health, that's not going to work with their timelines or salary situation. I think there's definitely the possibility for a team like the Knicks to swoop in with a five year max where a lot of teams are going to balk because of the timeline or the uncertainty.

One place it does create a problem right now is that he needs to make his decision about opting out (which is now no longer a clear best decision) before free agency, and he's now less certain about what offers he's going to get. I expect teams like the Knicks to do their best to skirt the tampering rules to make it known that this injury doesn't change any of their plans regarding Durant in the offseason.

One team thats got to be wondering just what they did to merit their uninteruppted 30 year status as dog excrement in the NBA are the fabled New York Knicks....

They traded away a psuedo star player in the Zinger for cap space with the idea they would be able to land one kevin durant... and now... well now they once again look to be pretty much screwed....

They will draft RJ Barrett and I guess that helps.. but RJ as good as he might be .. is unlikely to be as good as Durant is in the here and now or maybe ever.....

The Meccas season ticket holders must be wanting to cut their wrists.

[slaw]

Not trying to be glib S.R., but why is that clear? How do you know he wasn't told approximately that and just still wanted to play? I'd imagine the staff entirely would've informed him of the level of risk he might be taking. You think they just said, "Yup, you're good, have at 'er!" ... ?

Jalen Rose was talking today about the media and fan pressure to play and how people were maligning his character. You know that Durant scours social media, so you also know he heard all of the talk about how he was a quitter, etc. I think he wanted to play. I think the team wanted him to play. I think the organization wanted him to play. And I think the doctors and staff employed by that team felt pressure to give the 'right' diagnosis or the organization would find other doctors. As for second opinions, yes, that's an option. But a lot of these high profile guys rely on referrals from sports teams. If they keep telling those teams the worst news possible, then they stop getting referrals.

I'm not maligning all doctors here or suggesting that they are acting in bad faith or even negligently, I am just saying that a lot of this stuff is very nuanced and there might be several possible answers that are all defensible. When the pressure is there to come through on one side or another, it's not that hard to talk yourself into something, especially if the player is also telling a story that fits.