Throw another log on the “Kevin Durant to the Boston Celtics” fire.
Chris Mannix of Yahoo! Sports’ The Vertical on Thursday dubbed the Celtics “a dark horse” to land the Oklahoma City Thunder star in free agency this summer.
From Mannix:
“The Summer of Durant will be wild, with Durant eager to be courted, to see how other teams operate. Golden State will be in the mix, San Antonio too, while Boston lurks as a dark horse, the Eastern Conference alternative if Durant chooses to extract himself from the bruising Western Conference playoffs.”
It goes without saying that Durant would be a massive addition for the Celtics. The 27-year-old forward earned NBA MVP honors in 2014 and remains a top-five player in the league, and he’d certainly serve as the superstar Boston has sorely lacked since the breakup of the Big Three.
In that same column, Mannix all but ruled out Durant signing with his hometown Washington Wizards, despite the fact that Washington on Thursday hired former Thunder head coach Scott Brooks.
“Durant isn’t bound for Washington, friends say, because …Â it’s Washington, it’s home, and, like so many athletes, Durant isn’t all that keen on returning to play in the city in which he grew up,” Mannix wrote. “Friends, family — some real, some claiming to be — all come out of the woodwork in those situations, and Durant, who has tightened his inner circle considerably in recent years, isn’t interested in dealing with them.”
Durant’s 28.2 points per game this season ranked third in the NBA. Only James Harden (29.0) and Stephen Curry (30.1) averaged more.
Click to read the full story at The Vertical >>
Thumbnail photo via Isaiah J. Downing/USA TODAY Sports Images
