Kevin Durant has been the biggest topic of discussion for the media this offseason. After spending just three seasons with the Brooklyn Nets, the 2x NBA championship requested a trade.
Although his wish is yet to be fulfilled, there is positivity around the league that it will be fulfilled soon. The Nets are in no rush to trade Durant due to the fact that he still has four years left on his contract.
Anyway, because the trade talks are being stalled with multiple teams, it has led to NBA fans wondering about KD’s career. One hot topic of discussion in recent days has been if Kevin Durant had never joined the Golden State Warriors in 2016, how would it have affected his career and the league in general?
An NBA fan on Reddit asked this very question in one of their posts, which has now been deleted. But in the question, the fan reached the conclusion that if KD had never joined the Dubs, he would have zero NBA Championships to his name. Additionally, the fan also believed that LeBron James would have at least another NBA Championship to his name, taking his total tally to five.
Anyway, although the original post has now been deleted from the website, other NBA fans have still shared their thoughts on the same. Here is what the fans think about this hypothetical situation.
cactusmaster69420: I agree in theory but him not going would have a huge chain reaction to change a ton. Like I don’t think you can say the warriors win in 2022 if KD doesn’t go. Maybe they win in 2017 or 2021 or not at all. Who knows.
cyb3ryung: Not to be biased but the Warriors were a 73 win t team without KD they probably get one more before 2022. Theres so many factors that go into a championship along with the butterfly effect of these type of decisions.
IcyMission3: Idk too many things could happen that would be different like the Thunder were gonna sign Al Horford if KD stayed and that Thunder team with KD and Westbrook would be even more of a force and could easily win a ring in this timeframe. Also maybe the Rockets don’t construct as good if a team for 2018 as they built that team specifically to take down the Warriors. And don’t even get me started on Kawhi. There are too many things that could possibly happen that makes this the certain scenario.
csAxer8: Agreed. Cavs were clearly better than they were in 2016 and Rockets were nearly unbeatable when healthy in 2018.
liluzigoatt: Maybe. But who knows kd couldve gone to another one of the top teams and still won. just not the b***h move to go to the warriors which basically guaranteed chips
kai_123: If KD didn’t join the Warriors, Cavs-Warriors would’ve most likely split 2017 and 2018 with 1 ring each.
BrokenClxwn: The question is, do you think OKC ever make it to the Finals in this timeline?
Marcus-Fart: Mostly on point. Biggest point of contention for me is that KD’s sign and trade is what allowed Golden State to get back to contention this year so I doubt they win without Wiggins and Poole.
hasadiga42: Cavs win 2017, warriors win 2018.
SwarleymonLives: In 2016-17, the Warriors played better with KD out than in, by a pretty wide margin. Likely, they sweep the Cavs anyway.
It’s obvious that the scenario that the fan posted was very specific. They had also claimed that the Houston Rockets would have probably won the 2018 NBA Championship.
But at the end of the day, as pointed out by many NBA fans, there are just too many variables that would be affected if KD never joins the Warriors. So to get a concrete answer to this question is very difficult.
