Kevin Durant to sign with Warriors

Kevin Durant to sign with Warriors
10:42 AM CT
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Kevin Durant will sign with the Golden State Warriors.

Durant announced his decision in a post on The Players' Tribune.

He will sign a two-year, $54 million contract, sources told ESPN's Marc Stein. The deal includes a player option after the first year.

The biggest catch on the free-agent market, Durant met with six teams the past three days: Oklahoma City, Golden State, San Antonio, Boston, Miami and the Los Angeles Clippers.

The 27-year-old Durant has spent all nine seasons of his career with the Thunder organization. He won the MVP in 2014, has been named first-­team All-­NBA five times and has made seven All-­Star teams. He has appeared in four Western Conference finals and one NBA Finals, losing in five games to the Heat in 2012.

Durant bounced back last season to earn second­-team All-NBA honors after undergoing three surgeries on his right foot to repair a Jones fracture suffered prior to the 2014-­15 season, when he was limited to 27 games before undergoing a season-­ending bone graft procedure in March. Without Durant, the Thunder missed the postseason.

With him back for 72 games last season, the Thunder improved to 55-27 and finished third in the West. The Thunder beat the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the opening round, upset the 67-­win Spurs in six games in the second round and pushed the Warriors to seven games in the Western Conference finals.

Durant averaged 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists last season, and he scored at least 20 points in 67 straight games.

In nine seasons, Durant is averaging 27.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.

What went wrong for Steph Curry in the 2016 NBA Finals?

It was always going to be difficult for Steph Curry to replicate his regular season production in the playoffs. After all, Curry was coming off the greatest shooting season in NBA history. That he was able to keep up that pace through an 82-game season was remarkable; expecting him to extend that another 20 or so games may have been an unreasonable expectation.

Having said that, the drop in his production and efficiency as the postseason progressed was more significant than even the most pessimistic fan would have expected and the biggest reason the Warriors were unable to cap off their 73-win regular season with a championship.

Before we dig into the numbers in order to explain Curry’s drop-off, here are his splits between the regular season, Western Conference playoffs and NBA finals:So what’s to blame for Curry’s statistical slide? We’ve looked into NBA.com’s tracking numbers and advanced stats in order to come up with three reasons for Curry’s postseason struggles…

1. He didn’t attack the basket

Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

If you look at how Curry got his shots in the regular season compared to how he got them in the postseason, you won’t find a huge difference:

The percentage of his shots that came on catch-and-shoot opportunities remained essentially the same, while his pull-up shots increased and his shots around the basket dipped. Curry traded those rim-attacking attempts for off-the-bounce jumpers.

Part of the reason Curry stopped attacking the rim may have been his lack off success. After shooting 61% around the rim during the regular season, his percentage dropped about 10%. In the Finals, he shot just 45.5% within 10 feet and had five of his 26 shots around the rim blocked. He had only 31 of his 422 shots around the rim blocked during the regular season — that’s a 270% increase in block rate.

With the paint closed off, Curry had to adjust his game, which leads us to…

2. He settled for bad jumpers

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Curry was taking and making ridiculous shots all season long. That didn’t change in the Finals. The degree of difficulty on those shots did, however. Per NBA.com, 47.0% of his regular season shot attempts were defended tightly (a defender within four feet). That number jumped to 54.8% in the Finals. His field goal percentage on such attempts also dropped 10% on such attempts.

3. He dribbled too much

Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The Warriors were a joy to watch during the regular season because of their free-flowing offense. Seeing them jack up all of those 3s was entertaining, but it worked because the team played unselfishly and always hunted the best possible shot. In the playoffs, the ball did not move as much as it had during the regular season, and Curry was biggest culprit in that sudden stagnation.

His shot attempts after three dribbles increased. As did his touches that lasted at least six seconds. His average touch time jumped a half-second during the postseason, per NBA.com. So Curry was not only holding the ball longer but more of his touches were resulting in shots rather than smart passes. And these weren’t the same shots he was getting in the regular season. They were far more difficult.

Curry’s final possession in Game 7 was emblematic of his postseason struggles. After a switch, he ended up isolated with Kevin Love. Instead of heading straight for the rim, Curry passes up on possible multiple driving opportunities to jack up a tightly contested pull-up 3 after dribbling side-to-side for 10 seconds.

That’s not the Curry — or Warriors offense — we saw in the regular season. Curry played as if he was being controlled by a teenager playing NBA2K, and it wasn’t very fun to watch.

Sources: Kevin Durant will be Warriors top target in free agency.

Marc Stein
ESPN Senior 

Writer

The Golden State Warriors, after their NBA Finals defeat, are going ahead with their long-held plans to pursue Kevin Durant in free agency, according to league sources.

Sources told ESPN that Durant is by no means Golden State's lone target in free agency but stressed that he'll indeed be the Warriors' top target when the offseason marketplace opens July 1.

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Warriors owner Joe Lacob, without addressing Durant specifically so as not to violate league rules that prohibit such discussion before July 1, said Sunday night on his way out of Oracle Arena: "All I can say is that I will be very aggressive."

The Warriors and San Antonio Spurs are widely regarded as the league's two top threats to the Oklahoma City Thunder's attempts to keep Durant this summer.

Sources say that the Warriors and Spurs are on the short list of teams expected to secure a face-to-face meeting with Durant when he allows a select number of teams to court him once free agency starts.

ESPN reported earlier this month that the most likely scenario for Durant, at this juncture, remains signing a two-year deal to stay with Oklahoma City that includes a player option to return to free agency in the summer of 2017 alongside Thunder teammate Russell Westbrook.

But Golden State's unexpected loss to Cleveland in the Finals -- in which the Warriors became the first team in history to fail to win the championship after seizing a 3-1 series lead -- could enhance the Warriors' chances of convincing Durant to join them.

The Warriors have eight unrestricted free agents of their own, including swingman Harrison Barnes and center Festus Ezeli, both of whom are expected to attract significant attention from rival teams this summer.

Durant addressed his pending free agency Monday, acknowledging that "it's a little bit complicated right now" but also stressing that he ultimately is "worried about basketball."

"That's what it is for me," he said. "It's a basketball decision."

Asked what he meant by a "basketball decision," Durant said it's not necessarily about the spotlight or the money.

ESPN's Royce Young contributed to this report

Curry EJECTED!! PISSED!!

The Golden State Warriors had to finish Game 6 of the NBA Finals without star Stephen Curry.

Curry was whistled for a foul on the Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James, his sixth of the game, with 4:22 to go and the Warriors down 12 points. And he wasn't happy about it.

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Curry was whistled for the foul and then picked up an immediate technical foul for throwing his mouthguard, which hit a fan courtside. He received an automatic ejection for throwing at item into the stands. He also faces a possible fine and suspension, although the precedent is just a fine.

Curry apologized to the fan he hit before leaving the court and shared some words with chuckling Cavs coach Tyronn Lue as well.

Curry finished with 30 points and fouled out for the first time since Dec. 13, 2013, as the Warriors lost 115-101, forcing a deciding Game 7.

"It's obviously frustrating to be fouling out in the fourth quarter of a clinching game," Curry said in his postgame news conference.

Curry's wife, Ayesha, also was unhappy, tweeting: "I've lost all respect sorry this is absolutely rigged for money... Or ratings in not sure which. I won't be silent . Just saw it live sry."

She later deleted the tweet and apologized in a follow-up tweet.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Stephen Curry "had every right to be upset" and that he was not concerned Curry might be suspended for Game 7.

"He's the MVP of the league, he gets six fouls called on him, three of them were absolutely ridiculous," said Kerr, who emphasized that the fouls were not the reason the Warriors lost the game.

"I am happy he threw his mouthpiece; he should be upset."

One person who wasn't upset was the fan who was hit by Curry's mouthpiece, Andrew Forbes, son of Cavs minority owner Nate Forbes.

"It's all good," Andrew Forbes said. "It just hit me, and I was like, 'Who? What?' I was just cheering, being a fan. I don't even know where he was throwing it. ... He was good about it."

ESPN's Brian Windhorst and Tom Haberstroh and The Associated Press contributed to this report

See The Video Here

Cavs Win: Lebron says we gave it Everything.

LeBron: We gave it our all tonight and were able to come away with a victory .

CLEVELAND -- The Golden State Warriorslost 115-101 to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night, their second straight sound defeat. It’s difficult to know which Cleveland scene might haunt the Warriors more if they complete the collapse. Will it be Draymond Green’s suspension-worthy poke at LeBron James’ groin in the waning minutes of an already-decided Game 4? Or will it be the onslaught of missed 3-pointers to begin Game 6?

Golden State began this game moving the ball and getting open shots. One slight issue: As happened in the second half of Game 5, the shots kept missing. That issue was compounded when Stephen Currypicked up his second foul on a James drive and was pulled for the remainder of the first quarter. In retrospect, coach Steve Kerr likely erred in doing this, as the Cavs' lead ballooned beyond 20 points. But in retrospect, maybe nothing would have worked on a night when non-Curry Warriors started out 1-of-17 from distance.

Meanwhile, the Cavs were humming, with James making incisive pass after incisive pass. Kyrie Irving again had success against the usually stout Klay Thompson.

The Warriors managed to make things interesting, insofar as LeBron would let them. A Thompson-powered run allowed Golden State into single-digit territory entering the fourth quarter. But in that last stanza, James proved too good. He finished with 41 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds.

Bogut (Out) for Remainder of Finals!!

Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut will miss the remainder of the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers after suffering a "significant impaction injury" to his left knee during Monday night's Game 5, the team announced Wednesday.

An MRI on Tuesday revealed bone bruises to his proximal tibia and distal femur. The injury will not require surgery, but expected recovery time is 6-8 weeks.

The injury occurred early in the second half of Game 5 as Bogut went up to block Cavs' guard J.R. Smith's layup attempt. He landed on Smith awkwardly and immediately fell to the floor grabbing his left knee. He did not return to the game, which the Warriors lost 112-97.

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