The Golden State Warriors saw their 2023-24 season end earlier than expected. The Warriors were ousted in the opening round of the Play-In Tournament with a 118-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
While Stephen Curry continued to play at an elite level this year, the same can’t be said about his “big three” counterparts.
Klay Thompson hasn’t been the same player since suffering multiple major injuries, and his season culminated in an 0-for-10 performance in the Warriors’ loss to the Kings. Then there’s Draymond Green, who continued to make an impact on the game when he was on the court — but he struggled to stay out of trouble.
Green was suspended multiple times throughout the season for altercations on-court altercations, and the Warriors were 13-14 when Green didn’t play.
Following the Warriors’ loss, it felt like some serious changes could be coming to their roster in 2024-25. While it was initially suspected those changes would include a breaking up of the roster that has seen much success over the last decade, a recent report from a local Bay Area reporter suggests they could actually try to reprise one of the best roster cores in NBA history.
Following the Phoenix Suns’ exit from the playoffs, a four-game sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves, 95.7-FM The Game’s Mark Willard spoke about the possibility of the Warriors bringing back superstar Kevin Durant.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 26: Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors celebrates a double digit lead lead over the LA Clippers with Stephen Curry #30 and Draymond Green #23 in the first… More HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES
While the idea seems far-fetched, Willard made it clear that it’s not as unrealistic as it sounds.
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“I’ve been trying my best to burn up the lines, and this is all I’ll say,” Willard said. “The longer I go, the more people I talk to, the more I try to learn about all the ins and outs of it, I’m telling you right now that this Kevin Durant thing could happen. This is realistic.”
Durant famously signed with the Warriors in the 2016 offseason following his Oklahoma City Thunder blowing a 3-1 lead against the Warriors in the playoffs. Durant joined the team that had just won 73 games in the regular season, but blew a 3-1 lead of their own in the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
With Durant in tow, the Warriors weren’t blowing any leads, though. The Warriors would win back-to-back NBA Finals, before injuries derailed their chance for a three-peat in an eventual NBA Finals loss to the Toronto Raptors.
Durant then formed a new “big three” in Brooklyn with Kyrie Irving (and later James Harden) in what turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments in NBA history. Durant requested a trade in 2022, and ended up going to the Phoenix Suns ahead of the trade deadline to form another superteam alongside Devin Booker and Chris Paul. When the Suns were ousted in the playoffs by the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets, they traded for Bradley Beal to form a new superteam.
After another disappointing exit, could Durant attempt to return to the only franchise that’s allowed him to experience postseason success? Would the Warriors even consider taking on the final two years and more than $100 million left on his contract? Dan Dibley, Willard’s co-host, thinks this move is possible.
“Will (the Suns) trade Kevin Durant? I would put that right now at a safe 50/50,” Dibley said. “If they are gonna trade Kevin Durant, I would give the Warriors more than a fighting chance to reacquire him. KD liked playing with Steph, we know that. KD’s had success playing for Golden State, we know that. The Warriors do have some attractive assets… And the final piece of it is the Warriors’ owner Joe Lacob, he is aggressive… He is gonna try to do something to make something happen. He’s not just gonna sit on his hands and hope (Andrew) Wiggins plays harder next year.”
The Warriors have experienced more success than any team in the last decade, winning four championships. They most recently won in the 2021-22 season, but the supporting cast around Curry is continuing to look more suspect.
If Golden State wants to try to keep its championship window open with Curry, they would likely have to make a big splash this offseason. And if the Suns were open to trading Durant, a reunion between Durant and the Warriors would make a lot of sense if both sides want to try to win another championship.
Durant turns 36 in September but proved he could still play at a high level last season. The 14-time All-Star averaged 27.1 points per game on 52.3 percent shooting from the field, 41.3 percent shooting from deep, and 85.6 percent shooting from the free-throw line. He also appeared in 75 games, his most since 2018-19.
Durant is one of the best scorers in NBA history, and was a member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, honoring the 75 best players in NBA history. He’ll go down as one of the greats, but one knock on him will always be his inability to win when he wasn’t with Golden State.
So is it more important to Durant to win? Or is it more important to him to win outside of Golden State?
If it’s the former, Durant could request a trade back to the Warriors, who have enough assets to pull off a deal. If it’s the latter, Durant would likely be open to running it back in Phoenix, whose owner, Mat Ishbia, has made it clear he has no plans of blowing anything up.
“Let’s be real,” Ishbia told reporters. “Ask the other 29 GMs, 26 of them would trade their whole team for our whole team and our draft picks as is. The house is not on fire. We’re in a great position. It’s not hard to fix. We have enough talent to win a championship.”
It’s still early in the offseason, though, and nothing can be ruled out, especially if the request for a trade comes from Durant.
Would the Warriors take on all that money and trade a ton of future assets to bring back a superstar in the twilight of his career?
“Even if Joe (Lacob) thinks it’s probably not the right thing to do,” Willard said, “I absolutely believe he’ll do it.”
