warrior godfather

Chapter 684 Be Teammates With Curry's Teammates

Chapter 684 Be Teammates With Curry's Teammates

After Durant announced his final choice, the Celtics immediately announced that they will sign a four-year $4 million maximum salary contract with Durant, the last year of which is a player option.

As soon as the news came out, the league was shaken, the media scrambled to report, the fans discussed it enthusiastically, and the stagnant trading market was restarted.

For Thunder fans, the news was nothing less than a bolt from the blue that their superstar, their team leader, was gone.

Bennett, Presti, and Donovan, who were waiting for Durant's call at the Hampton Inn Express, walked away like clowns.

However, compared with joining the Warriors originally, Durant joined the Celtics this time and did not surrender.

Although there are still Thunder fans who feel that he has betrayed the team and are angry, most fans have expressed their understanding of Durant.

After all, he dedicated nine years of his career to the Thunder, helping the Thunder to leap from a weak team to a top team in the league. Failed to win the championship, but also worthy of the team.

Moreover, Durant has not repeatedly expressed his loyalty to the media before, saying that he will definitely stay in the Thunder to play.

He did not renew his contract with the Thunder last summer, and he has revealed to the outside world the ambiguous attitude that he may leave the team.

Later, Durant didn't mention anything about the contract extension. The reporter asked him if he would stay in the Thunder, but he didn't give a positive answer.

Although Thunder fans are unwilling to accept it, they are more or less psychologically prepared for his departure.

Even though Durant left the team freely and did not return any assets to the Thunder, Thunder fans could not forget his great contribution to the Thunder and sent him blessings one after another.

Durant did not forget the Thunder, he wrote in his own letter:
"I was born in Washington, D.C., but I was raised in Oklahoma City. It taught me a lot about family, which means a lot to a man. I can't find the right words to express this club, What the community here means to me, and it will always be in my life, in my heart. The memories, the camaraderie, go way beyond the game, it's the relationships that are priceless , making it so hard for me to make a decision like that."

"I will miss Oklahoma City and my role in building this incredible team. I will always cherish my relationship with this team and those who have been with me for nine years. Friends, teammates, fans and people here. They have always supported me unconditionally, and I can’t repay you for everything you have done for me and my family...”

Compared with the original rivalry between Durant and his teammates and fans, this time it was a peaceful breakup.

A Thunder fan left a message under Durant's Twitter:

"KD, if you're having a bad time in Boston, remember, Oklahoma always welcomes you back."

Durant responded to the fan:

"Man, thank you for your love, and I will always love Oklahoma."

On July 7, the Celtics held a press conference for Durant to join the team, and a huge poster of "Welcome KD to Boston" was hung outside the North Shore Garden Arena.

At the press conference, Celtics owners Vic Grosbeck, Steve Pagliuca, general manager Danny Ainge and head coach Kerr all attended and expressed their grand welcome to Durant.

Durant said:
"I'm going to stay here. I don't want to go through this kind of transfer again. I'm going to put my heart and soul into it and look forward to creating my own new era of basketball here. It's going to be fun."

Danny Ainge is all smiles:

"We will build a team around Kevin. He is a great scorer and a superstar. The Celtics are ready. Starting today, we are back to competing for the championship!"

Cole joked:
"Maybe I'll arrange KD to run off the ball, just like Ronan arranged for Steph...Kevin, you don't mind?"

Durant laughed and said:
"I'm willing to give everything to win the championship."

This is the last sentence Durant said at the press conference, and it is also the biggest reason for him to join the Celtics.

After the Cavaliers and Bulls rejected Durant's joining for various reasons, he needed to find the most competitive team. In the end, the Celtics moved him.

When the two sides met in Hampton, Danny Ainge promised to take out the draft picks and rookies of the Celtics, stud one or two superstars, form a Big Three lineup, and strive for the championship with all their strength.

Durant will be the absolute core of the Celtics. The current top star of the Celtics, Thomas Jr., also welcomes Durant's arrival and is willing to assist Durant.

Celtics owners Grobeck and Paliukaye said that the team will take the championship as the first goal and are willing to pay the luxury tax for this. They will definitely create a very competitive lineup.

After sending off the Celtics delegation, Durant had a long talk with Kleiman, compared the conditions of other teams, and decided to accept the Celtics' recruitment.

Compared with other teams, the Celtics have many young assets and can complete lineup upgrades in a short period of time.

And Danny Angie also said that the new Celtics coach Cole has a deep relationship with the Warriors. There are so many high-paid players in the Warriors, it is impossible to keep them all.

At that time, he will fully promote the deal with the Warriors and strive for the Warriors' stars.

This makes Durant very excited. Isn't the reason why he wants to go to the Warriors because he is envious of the Warriors' strong lineup?
I can't be teammates with Curry, but it's not bad to be teammates with Curry's teammates.

Durant is no worse than Curry in confidence. If Danny Angie can really trade two Warriors players, wouldn't the championship be at hand?

With this in mind, Durant immediately made a decision, and it was the Celtics!
However, it will take time for the Celtics to upgrade their lineup, and it is impossible to complete them all this summer, but Durant is only 28 years old this year, and there are at least 5 years of his peak period, so he can afford to wait.

Durant and Danny Ainge have reached a consensus, next season will not aim to compete for the championship, as long as the playoffs can go as far as possible, next summer, Danny Ainge will take out all his assets and completely complete the reconstruction .

At that time, except for Durant, everyone else is a bargaining chip that can be traded.

This surprised Durant. He confirmed it again like Danny Ainge. Danny Ainge's answer was very cold:
"It's all about the championship."

……

When Durant's trade was buzzing, the Las Vegas Summer League started quietly.

Simmons, Ingram, and Jaylen Brown, the favorites of the day, all participated in the summer league. They should have been the focus of media attention, but they could only be overshadowed by the superstars who can disrupt the league structure.

When Durant signed with the Celtics and everything was settled, the summer league came into people's field of vision, and the performance of these high-ranking rookies attracted people's attention.

But what is disappointing is that none of these high-ranking rookies played a dominant role in the summer league. While showing their physical talents to the fullest, they also exposed many weaknesses.

On the contrary, the few rookies at the bottom of the ranking are surprising.

Jamal Murray's scoring ability is extremely strong, he is a pretty good combat power, he is still very young, and he has good talent. The Nuggets can select him with the No. 7 pick, which is definitely a miss.

Following the selection of Jokic, Nuggets general manager Connery once again made a brilliant move, made a big splash, received widespread praise, and became one of the top general managers in the league.

Dejounte Murray, selected by the Spurs with the 25th pick, performed brilliantly, better than many lottery picks, and the Spurs made a lot of money.

Zubac, selected by the Clippers in the second round, has excellent static talent, solid defense, efficient inside finishing, and a mid-range shot. It is definitely worth a first-round pick, and the Clippers also earned it.

Of course, when talking about rookies, you can never talk about the Warriors.

The buyout issue between Zhou Qi and the Xiyu team has not been resolved. He is currently participating in the Huaxia men's basketball training camp to prepare for the Rio Olympics and cannot participate in the summer league.

But the two second-round picks Brogdon and Caruso both had outstanding performances.

The two started as partners in the backcourt, with Brogdon as the main attacker and Caruso as the main defense, with excellent results.

Brogdon showed the maturity and calmness that an older rookie should have, with solid ball control, unpretentious but efficient breakthroughs, and accurate three-pointers.

在夏季联赛的对抗强度下,他场均能拿到15.4分6.7助攻3.6篮板,三项命中率分别为48.5%、43.4%、91.3%,效率极高。

Caruso is always passionate and energetic on the court, running all over the court, especially on the defensive end, he is like a desperate Saburo.

Facing the mindless offensive guards in the summer league, Caruso averaged an astonishing 2.3 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, and he also grabbed 2.5 front boards per game.

Although he didn't score much, he made great contributions in other aspects, which greatly boosted the morale of the Warriors team.

As long as he plays, he can arouse the passion of his teammates. This kind of spiritual contribution is sometimes much more precious than statistics such as points and assists.

The two second-round picks performed as well as the lottery picks. Zhang Yu's vision once again aroused people's amazement.

The Warriors performed well in the backcourt, and the frontcourt was not too bad.

Wiggins and Bogdan no longer participated in the summer league, but Covington and Looney made their appearances.

Covington came to the summer league to reduce the dimensionality. His single defense and auxiliary defense are top-notch, and his three-point accuracy is accurate. The independent offense that could not be played in the NBA can be played in Las Vegas. A top striker with both offense and defense.

After a season of experience, especially in the playoffs, Looney has greatly improved his strength.

He has accumulated a lot of experience as a center forward. The weakest frame protection before has become a lot tougher. At the same time, he has not let go of his advantages in offensive rebounds and mid-range shooting. He can also make a lot of contributions on the offensive end.

Under the intensity of the summer league, Looney's shortcoming of lack of height was covered up, and he turned into a god of rebounds, averaging 13.2 rebounds per game, one-third of which were offensive rebounds, and he was able to make at least 2 mid-range shots per game .

Under the outstanding performance of the four, although the other players of the Warriors made up the numbers, they still overcame all obstacles, made it all the way to the finals, won the championship, and maintained their dominance over the summer league.

(End of this chapter)

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