There are now multiple prominent NBA reporters saying that a Kevin Durant return to the Warriors isn’t a pipe dream.
First it was Marc Spears reporting that the Warriors had made a call to Brooklyn to asses the situation. Now it’s Brian Windhorst of ESPN saying that he has “legitimate sources” telling him that the Warriors are discussing the possibility.
“In my case there’s legitimate sources in the league telling me that it’s a discussion,” Windhorst told Dan Patrick.
“First off, I think that the Warriors always believe in open throttle. The Warriors have shown that they don’t care what they spend. They spent $350 million this year on this team, and the Warriors have shown that they aren’t afraid to do it.
“They went out and got Durant in the first place… This is the way they go about it.”
Even if both parties decide they want to execute the deal, actually doing so would be extremely complicated and near impossible. For one, the Warriors would need to move Andrew Wiggins in the deal to make the money work. But Wiggins can’t be traded to the Nets because they recently traded for Ben Simmons, who like Wiggins, is also on a designated rookie max extension. A third team would need to be included in the deal for it to work, and that team would need to really want Simmons. It’s hard to imagine.
Windhorst concluded that he doesn’t believe it’s likely, probably for the reasons detailed above, but that it is in the realm of possibility.
“Do I think it’s likely? Do I think on the pie chart of things to happen, do I think it’s a big slice? I don’t,” Windhorst said. “But also, I don’t think that I should dismiss it based on what I’m being told.”
