The start of an NBA season comes with many storylines that keep fans enthralled in the action for the best part of nearly half a calendar year. The long, grueling 82-game schedule of the regular season can get a tad bit boring sometimes and not forgetting how difficult it gets getting our heads around several games which come thick and fast.
The 2015-2016 season officially chalked a fortnight milestone on a Tuesday night which had the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Dallas Mavericks courtesy a 120-105 to earn its’ first win of the season but at a great cost as franchise cornerstone Anthony Davis went out injured with a hip contusion.
The latest injury to beset the Pelicans who are already without the services of Tyreke Evans, Norris Cole, Jrue Holiday and Quincy Pondexter meant the talented big man from Chicago is yet to complete a full stretch of regular season games sans-injuries in his four year tenure in the league.
Michael Jordan’s team, the Charlotte Hornets recorded an impressive 104-95 win over early season surprise package Minnesota Timberwolves. However, the pick of Tuesday’s games was that which pitched the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Washington Wizards.
Playing in his hometown Washington, former Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant inflicted a dominant 125-101 win over the Washington Wizards. Inside the Verizon Center, fans looked on curiously as Durant raced to a 14 point, 10 rebound game in just 16 minutes before his night was cut short by a strained hamstring injury. Backcourt phenom Russell Westbrook took over proceedings to clinch 22 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds triple double in the win.
Having ridden their luck with injuries to their star men in past years, the Thunder has now caught the injury bug which has hampered the title aspirations of many a team in previous years. The team got a feel of the injury scourge last season when both Westbrook and Durant missed significant stretches of the campaign to injuries.
Though Durant’s latest injury grabbed all the headlines across tabloids, the lingering thought of having Durant in his hometown’s basketball team jersey is sure to remain the biggest storyline during the season aside Steph Curry’s Golden State warriors chances of repeating as champions.
Come 2016, Durant will be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career. A four time scoring champion he is, many teams on the back of incoming massive enrichment for the league look set to make a run at him in the offseason. As a prime candidate, the Washington Wizards have not hid their intentions of luring Durant back home.
The first move they made was a San Antonio Spurs- like move when they decided to delay the extension of Shooting Guard Bradley Beal’s contract in order to create the necessary room to foot the inevitable high bill a Durant signature comes with; for the record, Nike paid $200million dollars to get his signature on their sneakers.
Due to the delay in extending his contract, Beal will be a restricted free agent in 2016 but the Wizards will have the privilege of matching any salary offers from teams to retain him just like the Spurs did this offseason when reigning Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard’s restricted free agent contract was extended to the financial max without hurting the club’s ability to sign big name free agent, LaMarcus Aldridge and retain Shooting Guard Danny Green.
On the court, the Wizards have the biggest pitch that can be made to lure any big name player including Durant. A close look at the Washington roster clearly shows the backcourt mixture of John Wall and Bradley Beal are the mainstays of the franchise in the present and immediate future.
In John Wall, Durant, should he choose to go home, would have a top ten rated Point Guard renowned for his fearless attacks to the rim, quality distribution skills and blinding speed- a plus for transition points. The qualities Wall possesses is strikingly similar to what Durant’s current teammate Russell Westbrook has including a not so consistent three point shooting stroke.
However, Wall is a pass-first, superior defensive Guard who brings teammates into play often will be a huge comfort draw for Durant who dominates the ball quite substantially. Westbrook is a scoring machine who when paired with Durant has brought about indecision on who is the leader of the team. This might not be a major hitch on a team’s chemistry but it does matter because for the Miami Heat to win back to back titles, Dwayne Wade had to cede team leadership to LeBron James. Westbrook fouling out in the Thunder’s loss to the Houston Rockets also deprived Kevin Durant of a complementary piece but Wall’s significant lower turnover rate and fouls committed makes him a safer partner than Russell.
The city of Washington is also playing its part to lure their son back home. Back in September, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the city is set to build a new $55 million dollar practice facility which will have a 5,000 seating capacity and the project will largely be funded by the city.
According to Tom Sherwood of NBC Washington, after completion, the facility would be leased to Wizards and WNBA’s Washington Mystics owner Ted Leonsis. By coming home, Durant will in a few years be playing in an ultra-modern technological advanced facility with the NBA’s new ‘Big 3” comprising he (Durant), John Wall and Bradley Beal.
In true less is more fashion, Durant’s brief 16 minute outing on Tuesday, has only heightened the interest from his hometown.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
