Kevin Durant may join elite
CLEVELAND: Somewhat thin and baby-faced, Kevin Durant doesn't much resemble LeBron James physically at the same age, but the Seattle SuperSonics rookie is the closest thing the NBA has seen in five years.
Kevin Durant has the same superstar potential, preseason media hype, millions from Nike and sports drink and trading card endorsement deals and even a spot on a potentially dreadful team. He quietly breezed through town during the weekend. while most fans were focused on the Indians, which was just fine with him. That will likely being an exception.
As when James was a rookie for a shaky Cavs outfit in 2003, intrigued fans and media are likely to flock to him to make their initial judgments even if they are premature. Especially with No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden, out for the season with a knee injury, not there to share the spotlight.
''I don't think he likes the attention, but he can't control that,'' said Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo, a veteran hired in large part to groom Kevin Durant and fellow top-5 draft pick Jeff Green. Carlesimo's role is not unlike the role veteran coach Paul Silas was hired to perform when James arrived.
''He doesn't want to be different,'' Carlesimo said.
Oh, but he is. At 6-foot-9 with well developed offensive skills for his age, Kevin Durant's mixture of talent and size makes him the sort of prospect scouts dream about. He's still maybe a little too reliant on the jumper and does like to shoot a lot he took 22 shots in 23 minutes against the Cavs. But when he gains a little weight and learns to play inside and out, he could be dominant offensively.
''He's going to be one of the premier players in this league once he learns the game,'' James said. ''He's got all the tools you need to be a leader.''
James got to know Kevin Durant during the summer, when the Sonics rookie spent several weeks in training camp with Team USA. He and James immediately struck up a relationship and have been talking by phone.
''I've talked to LeBron a lot,'' Kevin Durant said. ''He's told me to try to take my rookie year in stride, to try to have fun.''
''I'm open to him. When he wants advice, I give it to him,'' James said. ''I was never a guy who wanted to reach out when I was a rookie. I wanted to do my own thing. But he's got my number, and I've answered the phone whenever he's called.''
James' advice likely is less fundamental and more philosophical. Kevin Durant will learn on his own how to defend the NBA pick-and-roll or how much to tip the bellhops in New York. But dealing with a ''savior of the franchise'' tag is a little more complex.
In the midst of a battle over an arena, the Sonics and new owner Clay Bennett appear intent on moving to Oklahoma City as soon as possible. There was more stability with the Cavs when James arrived, but coming off the worst attendance year in the NBA, the Cavs were in significant trouble.
When James showed up, he tried to deflect such responsibility. During the first weeks of that year, whenever he was asked, he always said the Cavs were ''Ricky Davis' team, not mine.'' Everyone knew it was a political answer Davis was shipped out six weeks into the season but it was also understandable why James took that respectful path.
Kevin Durant, perhaps on the advice of others, is taking the same position.
''I don't think I'm the face of the franchise like everybody has been saying or the go-to guy,'' Kevin Durant said. ''I don't think I'm going to be the star. I just want to play within the flow of the team.''
When the Sonics learned they'd be assured of getting Kevin Durant or Greg Oden at the draft lottery, they traded All-Star Ray Allen and did not re-sign All-Star Rashard Lewis. That makes Kevin Durant the certified franchise player, which he knows.
So was James when he was a rookie, which Kevin Durant knows. So it isn't surprising Kevin Durant would like to follow in James' initial path, both with his play and with how he attempts to deflect all the hype.
''I remember how well LeBron played as a rookie,'' Kevin Durant said. ''I don't know if I can play as well as he did.''
Around the NBA
Several league sources said Cavs General Manager Danny Ferry went to Brazil last week to meet with unsigned forward Anderson Varejao. The Cavs were careful not to let word of the meeting leak out, and no one from either side was willing to talk about it. If there was any progress, it was minimal; the holdout continues. With the Cavs and Ferry in China all week, it is doubtful there will be a resolution soon. Varejao is believed to have been working out in his hometown of Vitoria.
Want to make an NBA GM sweat? Get his boss talking. Some owners say nothing, some say way too much. Last week, Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss turned a quiet training camp stormy when he told reporters that he would be willing to trade Kobe Bryant. Before that, the Kobe Bryant trade talk had all but died, but now it is re-enveloping the team. Meanwhile in Utah, Jazz owner Larry H. Miller started talking about the contract he wanted to sign guard Deron Williams to next summer.
''If he keeps making the kind of progress he's making, I couldn't look him in the eye and tell him it was fair that he wasn't a max player,'' Miller told the Salt Lake Tribune. No matter what happens this season, you don't suppose his agent will bring that to the bargaining table, do you?
During the summer, Sonics part-owner Aubrey McClendon was fined $250,000 for telling the media: ''We didn't buy the team to keep it in Seattle.''
There has been speculation recently that the Minnesota Timberwolves got better offers for Kevin Garnett than the one they took from the Boston Celtics. Only a few people in Minneapolis know if it is true. The Timberwolves said they wanted young players, expiring contracts and draft picks in the rebuilding trade. The Celtics gave them all three. The five players making about $19 million sent to the Timberwolves could all be off the books by next summer if they wanted, but they'll be keeping several, especially centerpiece Al Jefferson. Plus, there were two first-round picks in the deal, a provision few teams could offer.
Certainly more established players were offered to the Wolves to help them right away, but that wasn't what they wanted. Maybe the Wolves could've done better by moving quicker and making the deal for picks in this draft. Perhaps those were mistakes, perhaps not. But the Celtics appeared to be the only team that had everything the Wolves wanted at that exact point in time, even if looks like history might not remember it that way.
Brian Windhorst can be reached at bwindhor@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/cavs/.
CLEVELAND: Somewhat thin and baby-faced, Kevin Durant doesn't much resemble LeBron James physically at the same age, but the Seattle SuperSonics rookie is the closest thing the NBA has seen in five years.
Kevin Durant has the same superstar potential, preseason media hype, millions from Nike and sports drink and trading card endorsement deals and even a spot on a potentially dreadful team. He quietly breezed through town during the weekend. while most fans were focused on the Indians, which was just fine with him. That will likely being an exception.
As when James was a rookie for a shaky Cavs outfit in 2003, intrigued fans and media are likely to flock to him to make their initial judgments even if they are premature. Especially with No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden, out for the season with a knee injury, not there to share the spotlight.
''I don't think he likes the attention, but he can't control that,'' said Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo, a veteran hired in large part to groom Kevin Durant and fellow top-5 draft pick Jeff Green. Carlesimo's role is not unlike the role veteran coach Paul Silas was hired to perform when James arrived.
''He doesn't want to be different,'' Carlesimo said.
Oh, but he is. At 6-foot-9 with well developed offensive skills for his age, Kevin Durant's mixture of talent and size makes him the sort of prospect scouts dream about. He's still maybe a little too reliant on the jumper and does like to shoot a lot he took 22 shots in 23 minutes against the Cavs. But when he gains a little weight and learns to play inside and out, he could be dominant offensively.
''He's going to be one of the premier players in this league once he learns the game,'' James said. ''He's got all the tools you need to be a leader.''
James got to know Kevin Durant during the summer, when the Sonics rookie spent several weeks in training camp with Team USA. He and James immediately struck up a relationship and have been talking by phone.
''I've talked to LeBron a lot,'' Kevin Durant said. ''He's told me to try to take my rookie year in stride, to try to have fun.''
''I'm open to him. When he wants advice, I give it to him,'' James said. ''I was never a guy who wanted to reach out when I was a rookie. I wanted to do my own thing. But he's got my number, and I've answered the phone whenever he's called.''
James' advice likely is less fundamental and more philosophical. Kevin Durant will learn on his own how to defend the NBA pick-and-roll or how much to tip the bellhops in New York. But dealing with a ''savior of the franchise'' tag is a little more complex.
In the midst of a battle over an arena, the Sonics and new owner Clay Bennett appear intent on moving to Oklahoma City as soon as possible. There was more stability with the Cavs when James arrived, but coming off the worst attendance year in the NBA, the Cavs were in significant trouble.
When James showed up, he tried to deflect such responsibility. During the first weeks of that year, whenever he was asked, he always said the Cavs were ''Ricky Davis' team, not mine.'' Everyone knew it was a political answer Davis was shipped out six weeks into the season but it was also understandable why James took that respectful path.
Kevin Durant, perhaps on the advice of others, is taking the same position.
''I don't think I'm the face of the franchise like everybody has been saying or the go-to guy,'' Kevin Durant said. ''I don't think I'm going to be the star. I just want to play within the flow of the team.''
When the Sonics learned they'd be assured of getting Kevin Durant or Greg Oden at the draft lottery, they traded All-Star Ray Allen and did not re-sign All-Star Rashard Lewis. That makes Kevin Durant the certified franchise player, which he knows.
So was James when he was a rookie, which Kevin Durant knows. So it isn't surprising Kevin Durant would like to follow in James' initial path, both with his play and with how he attempts to deflect all the hype.
''I remember how well LeBron played as a rookie,'' Kevin Durant said. ''I don't know if I can play as well as he did.''
Around the NBA
Several league sources said Cavs General Manager Danny Ferry went to Brazil last week to meet with unsigned forward Anderson Varejao. The Cavs were careful not to let word of the meeting leak out, and no one from either side was willing to talk about it. If there was any progress, it was minimal; the holdout continues. With the Cavs and Ferry in China all week, it is doubtful there will be a resolution soon. Varejao is believed to have been working out in his hometown of Vitoria.
Want to make an NBA GM sweat? Get his boss talking. Some owners say nothing, some say way too much. Last week, Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss turned a quiet training camp stormy when he told reporters that he would be willing to trade Kobe Bryant. Before that, the Kobe Bryant trade talk had all but died, but now it is re-enveloping the team. Meanwhile in Utah, Jazz owner Larry H. Miller started talking about the contract he wanted to sign guard Deron Williams to next summer.
''If he keeps making the kind of progress he's making, I couldn't look him in the eye and tell him it was fair that he wasn't a max player,'' Miller told the Salt Lake Tribune. No matter what happens this season, you don't suppose his agent will bring that to the bargaining table, do you?
During the summer, Sonics part-owner Aubrey McClendon was fined $250,000 for telling the media: ''We didn't buy the team to keep it in Seattle.''
There has been speculation recently that the Minnesota Timberwolves got better offers for Kevin Garnett than the one they took from the Boston Celtics. Only a few people in Minneapolis know if it is true. The Timberwolves said they wanted young players, expiring contracts and draft picks in the rebuilding trade. The Celtics gave them all three. The five players making about $19 million sent to the Timberwolves could all be off the books by next summer if they wanted, but they'll be keeping several, especially centerpiece Al Jefferson. Plus, there were two first-round picks in the deal, a provision few teams could offer.
Certainly more established players were offered to the Wolves to help them right away, but that wasn't what they wanted. Maybe the Wolves could've done better by moving quicker and making the deal for picks in this draft. Perhaps those were mistakes, perhaps not. But the Celtics appeared to be the only team that had everything the Wolves wanted at that exact point in time, even if looks like history might not remember it that way.
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