Potential 2016 Offseason Blockbusters That Could Alter the NBA Landscape

Grab your imagination hats. It’s time to hypothetically, and significantly, tinker with the NBA’s competitive landscape.

Trades and free-agency signings will be our tools for this mission. We’re proposing, then analyzing, deals and signings that would change the way we view certain teams, rebuilds and championship races.

These scenarios are not real or necessarily rumored. And they are deliberately ambitious. So open your minds and abandon your biases, because we’re about to get weird.

 

Kevin Durant to Anywhere But OKC

For those who don’t know (since no one is talking about it), Kevin Durant will be a free agent this summer. And if he decides to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder, the NBA will never be the same, no matter where he ends up.

Not that the 2013-14 MVP is plotting his escape. He has not tired of headlining a perennial almost in Oklahoma City, per ESPN.com’s Royce Young:

Durant on OKC: “It’s home. I’ve been here for eight years. Time has flown by. Time flies when you’re having fun.”

— Royce Young (@royceyoung) June 1, 2016

Most behind-the-scenes peeps, for that matter, expect Durant to stay put, even if it’s only on a short-term deal, according to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein:

Most insiders see the most likely scenario at present to be Kevin Durant staying in OKC on a two-year max deal with an opt-out after Year 1.

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) May 31, 2016

Still, Durant will not want for suitors. That should compel him to at least entertain the idea of signing elsewhere. And if he does, the Thunder will go from being within one win of an NBA Finals bid to being what they were in 2014-15 without him: a fringe playoff unit.

Generally speaking, every team that likes winning basketball games will be interested in his services. More specifically, there are these guys, per Stein:

Wizards, Heat, Celtics, Rockets, Knicks, Lakers, Spurs and, yes, Warriors … all expected to pursue Kevin Durant in free agency this summer

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) May 31, 2016

Any squad Durant joins becomes an instant contender and/or dynasty candidate, thus warping the NBA landscape to some degree. And three scenarios loom largest on the long-shot scale: Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics.

Boston is the least likely of the three. Something about cruddy winters. I mean, who’s the last big-time free agent to bolt for Beantown? But Durant, should he be on the prowl for new digs, would be remiss not to consider bucking the trend.

The Celtics tied for the third-best record in the Eastern Conference this season and have picks, prospects and reasonable contracts galore. And they can manufacture max space on a whim while still having enough left over to go hunting for role players. Butch Stearns of WEEI even claims the front office knows which players Durant wants to bring with him.

Plug him into the current rotation, and the Celtics are overnight juggernauts—lengthy, fast and frickin’ frightening. Add another star partner via trade, along with some of his free-agent friends, and the Cleveland Cavaliers won’t sleep for at least another year.

Golden State and San Antonio are different beasts. The salary-cap gymnastics each must endure to afford Durant are complicated. You can read about the Spurs’ path to flexibility here, and about the Warriors’ road to wiggle room here.

Viewed through common sense-starved vacuums, Durant’s addition to Golden State or San Antonio doesn’t change much about the NBA’s pecking order. The rich get richer, am I right? But you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think there are long-term repercussions.

A core of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Durant in Oakland? Or a nucleus of LaMarcus Aldridge, Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker, plus maybe Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, in San Antonio?

Good luck to any of the NBA’s other teams that plan on competing for a title over the next five to 10 years.

 

Boston Gets A Star…

Boston Celtics Receive: SG/SF Jimmy Butler

Chicago Bulls Receive: SG Avery Bradley, F/C Jonas Jerebko, PG Terry Rozier, No. 3 pick, No. 16 pick

Jimmy Butler is in a weird situation with the Chicago Bulls. He is clearly the franchise player and just one season into a five-year pact that will look like a bargain under the new salary cap. However, the team, apparently, isn’t opposed to dealing him, according to The Vertical’s Chris Mannix.

Moving him isn’t a terrible idea if the Bulls are looking to hit the reset button. He is only 26, but that’s more like 30 to 32 after spending the first part of his career playing for Tom Thibodeau. And Chicago can use him to acquire a healthy stable of picks, prospects and reasonably priced impact players.

Totally regrouping isn’t the ideal scenario for a squad that, up until this season, was painted as Cleveland’s biggest Eastern Conference threat. But it’s time for the Bulls to fold on that dream. Their title window has expired with this foundation, if it was ever really open.

Now is the perfect time to start building from scratch. Pau Gasol (player option) and Joakim Noah are free agents, and Derrick Rose’s contract-turned-financial albatross comes off the books next season.

Finding a taker for Butler won’t be particularly hard—especially if Bulls general manager Gar Forman has Celtics president Danny Ainge on speed dial.

Boston tried prying Butler out of Chicago at the trade deadline, according to the Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett. Talks never progressed, per the Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson, because the Celtics threw out “lowball” offers. But while on the Toucher and …

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