It is no secret that the Golden State Warriors want Kevin Durant to sign with them this offseason. Durant would make the Warriors an even more star studded team and likely greatly increase their chances of making the NBA Finals for the third straight year.
The Warriors' front office is planning on sitting down once free agency starts with Durant to discuss the opportunity in Golden State. But apparently this won't be the first time the Thunder star has heard from Golden State.
According to The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski, several of the Warriors players have been in communication with Durant all season about coming to Golden State (via CSNBayarea.com):
"Here's the thing that's interesting about Golden State -- their players have been recruiting Kevin Durant all year. And it goes back to early in the season when the Thunder were struggling. And I don't know if Golden State saw them as a peer; I don't know that they saw them as a threat ... Kevin Durant, just like he was hearing from guys in Boston, Washington, different places -- he was hearing from guys on the Warriors about, 'Hey, you can come help take the pressure off of Steph Curry. We need you.' This is when they were running off win after win after win.
"They had him on their mind. He's been on their mind. And it appealed to him. And some of it was text messages, it's a lot of that. But the communication with some of the players in Golden State and Kevin, that's just not just starting now."
Wojnarowski doesn't reveal who it was on Golden State that has been communicating with Durant but Andrew Bogut likely wasn't doing any recruiting. During the NBA Finals, Bogut wondered aloud why the Warriors, who had just won 73 games in the regular season, would even need Durant on their team. Bogut makes a valid point as Golden State is already excellent without Durant and if they add the Thunder star, it would likely mess with some of the team's chemistry.
Of course, other players may think differently. Which going by Wojnarowski's report seems to be the case. But how heavily Durant will value the Warriors players' all season long recruitment is still unknown. At the very least, Durant knows he's wanted in Golden State and we just have to wait and see to see how that impacts his decision this offseason.
