NBA Rumors: Warriors Owner Joe Lacob Reveals Why Kevin Durant Will Stay In Golden State In 2019 Free Agency
The departure of Kevin Durant from the Golden State Warriors is one of the most talked about topics in the league in the past months. No matter what the outcome of the 2018-19 NBA season will be, rumors and speculations are circulating that Durant will be leaving the Warriors to face the next biggest challenge in his NBA career. Citing a report from The Athletic, Mark Fischer of the New York Post revealed that 69 of the 109 NBA players believe that Durant is signing with the New York Knicks in the 2019 NBA free agency.
Though the Warriors only finish second in the survey with 20.2 percent votes, team owner Joe Lacob remains very optimistic that they can convince Kevin Durant to re-sign next summer. In a recent interview with Tim Kawakami of The Athletic, Lacob said that he’s not worried about Durant’s impending free agency, mentioning multiple reasons why the All-Star small forward will choose to stay in Golden State.
“Look, we can pay him the most money,” Lacob said, as quoted by NBC Sports.
“We have a great team. We have great coaching. We have great fans. I don’t think anyone can match us, when you take everything into consideration, if that’s the way you’re thinking about it. And he has a chance to win — and let’ s hope it goes well this year — a chance to win more championships. I mean, it could be legendary. If he stays here … I don’t know that you get this kind of opportunity very often. So I would hope that he thinks that and accepts that and decides he wants to stay.”
Ric Bucher: Kevin Durant to Knicks is reportedly a "done" dealhttps://t.co/zY688IBlp0 pic.twitter.com/5UOAwFOk0J
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) April 4, 2019
Warriors owner Joe Lacob is right. The Warriors definitely have most of the things an incoming free agent superstar is looking for an NBA team. The Warriors can give Kevin Durant a huge payday, great teammates and coaching staffs, and the best chance of winning multiple NBA championship titles.
However, most NBA fans, except the Warriors’ supporters, will surely prefer Kevin Durant to part ways with the Warriors next summer. Since Durant joined the Warriors in 2016, the NBA became predictable and less competitive. Despite the improvements made by several title contenders, the Warriors remain as the heavy favorite to take home the Larry O’Brien Trophy in the 2018-19 NBA season.
As of now, only Kevin Durant knows what he plans to do in the 2019 NBA free agency. Before talking about his next contract, Durant is currently focused on winning his third consecutive NBA championship title with the Warriors.
