The Warriors are reportedly trying to bring Kevin Durant back to the team ahead of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline for a second run alongside Steph Curry.
The first time the two former MVPs played together, they made three trips to the NBA Finals, winning two titles.
Eight and a half years after Durant left Oklahoma City for Golden State, this relocation from Phoenix would be markedly different.
Less outside hate
Durant’s 2016 leap to the Bay Area was met with extreme dissatisfaction from NBA fans outside the Warriors’ orbit. He joined a team that had gone 73-9 in the regular season before beating his Thunder in the West finals. The 3-1 collapse in the NBA Finals pushed Draymond Green and the Warriors to recruit Durant, whose addition was made possible by a spike in the salary cap. The 2017 title felt like a foregone conclusion to many fans of other teams.
This time, the Warriors’ position in the standings and Durant’s own wandering history — rather than arriving from a small-market franchise, the only one he’d represented — would make the deal less bitter for fans outside the Bay Area.
An unprecedented cap spike allowed the Warriors to sign Durant outright; this time around, they’d have to give up assets for him.
Warriors’ position in NBA sphere
Golden State has established itself as a destination thanks to its enormous success with the trio of Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. Four championships in eight years and revolutionizing the league’s style of play will do that.
But the Warriors are not in the middle of that run any longer. They are 25-24, fighting for a spot in the play-in tournament. Although they made a push to win the title in 2022, they have made the playoffs just twice in the five years since Durant left.
This would not be the league’s best team adding a generational superstar; rather, it would be two all-time stars joining forces again for one last push at a title.
The team around them
Only three players — Curry, Green and Kevon Looney — remain from the 2019 team that fell to the Raptors in the Finals, the last time Durant played for Golden State.
Crucially, Thompson left for Dallas last summer in a difficult exit after injuries and age robbed him of his all-league defensive capability.
Looney’s playing time has shrunk since he was a vital part of the 2022 Finals run, and his expiring contract makes him a candidate to be moved in the trade. The Athletic reported Tuesday night that the Suns may have interest in Green in a deal for Durant. Moving on from Green would be a seismic shift for the Warriors, who have relied on his basketball IQ and activity on both ends of the court for the last decade.
Andrew Wiggins, with his $26.3 million salary, and pending restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga are also candidates to move in a trade for Durant. Neither played with Durant previously, but both represent depth on the wing, as Andre Iguodala did for the 2016-2019 teams.
Age is more than a number
Both Curry and Durant are 36 years old. They were 31 and 30, respectively, when Durant left Golden State for Brooklyn. Both players can still carry their teams on any given night, but they are no longer mid-prime superstars; neither has been named to the All-NBA first team since 2021.
Each has fought through injuries in the intervening period, and the work required to get back on the court doesn’t get easier with age. Both players missed fewer than 10 games last season but outside of Curry’s 2020-21 season had otherwise missed at least 18 every year since Durant’s departure.
Whether two players with as many miles logged as they have combined could hold up for a deep playoff run is an open question.