At shootaround before the Golden State Warriors' highly anticipated matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, Kevin Durant looked back at the Clippers' pitch to him in free agency. He told reporters that they made it difficult for him to say no to partnering up with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
"Blake , D.J. and C.P -- that's what made it interesting," Durant said, via the San Jose Mercury News' Anthony Slater. "Those three guys are tremendous, unbelievable talents. They made it tough on me. They made it tough. Just knowing those guys. Like I said, D.J. is a close friend. C.P., I've been knowing him since I was in high school. I got to know Blake over the years. All that other stuff -- I've been in L.A. every summer. Facilities, all that stuff is the same to me. As long as you have a court and the ball. And Jamal Crawford has been a close friend of mine since I've been in the league, so the players, that's what made it tough. They did a great job."
Remember when Durant was reportedly "blown away" by his meeting with the Clippers, who apparently thought they were getting him? Imagining him next to those three stars was fun, but realistically, making it all work would have been a complicated process -- while the Warriors simply had to trade Andrew Bogut and let Harrison Barnes, Marreese Speights and Leandro Barbosa walk in free agency, the Clippers would have essentially had to gut their roster to sign Durant.
Generally, this is how the league's salary cap is supposed to work -- in most scenarios, you can't put four elite players on the same team, and in the event of a disruption like the new television deal kicking in, you'd still have to make major concessions when it comes to depth in order to do so. Golden State's situation was unique in that the front office had already locked up Stephen Curry at an enormous discount in 2012 because he was seen as injury-prone, plus it had Klay Thompson and Draymond Green at a bit less than the max.
With Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston on reasonable deals, too, the stars truly aligned for the Warriors: They could offer Durant a chance to play with three other All-Stars in their prime, and they didn't have to destroy their bench.
For a brief moment before Durant made his decision, Golden State and Los Angeles had uncertain futures. Now, they are separated by just 2.5 games in the standings, but they have drastically different outlooks. While the Warriors have few worries, the Clippers might look totally different this time next year. Paul, Griffin and J.J. Redick can all be free agents next summer.