NBA Free Agents 2016: Rumors, Predictions for Kevin Durant, Al Horford and More
Kevin Durant has and will always get credit as the headline act for the 2016 NBA free-agency period.
The summer of Durant, though, features plenty of notable talent set to take the market by storm and change the complexion of the league. You know it's odd, too, when notable names such as Dwight Howard don't do much to raise an eyebrow.
Where to start? There are dependable big men like Al Horford and Pau Gasol. High-upside players make up a large chunk of the market, too, such as Harrison Barnes. Some of the most dominant players stand a strong chance at moving as well, such as Hassan Whiteside.
It seems like a deeper class than usual, and there's more at stake for teams as well, with every locale from the Los Angeles Lakers to the opposite coast and beyond putting plenty on the line for a shot at improvement. Here's a look at the latest to help keep up with the relentless flow of information.
Lakers in on Al Horford...and Everyone
The above is only a slight exaggeration.
With Kobe Bryant gone, the Lakers now have an eye on the future, one led by the trio of D'Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram and Julius Randle.
And maybe Durant. Like almost any other team in the Association with cap space to spend, the Lakers wouldn't mind bringing Durant to town.
In a post by ESPN.com's Chris Broussard detailing the Lakers' hopes to still nail down a meeting with Durant comes a more interesting nugget: "In addition to Durant, some players the Lakers have interest in are Harrison Barnes, Hassan Whiteside and Al Horford, sources say."
It's not that Durant to the Lakers isn't interesting, but even the write-up makes it sound like a long shot because the team isn't on his current list.
More interesting is what the Lakers might do with the cash instead. The organization is familiar with what Barnes can do after his four seasons with the Golden State Warriors, where he posted career averages of 10.1 points and 4.6 rebounds.
Barnes seems like an odd fit, though, whereas Horford and Whiteside certainly do not.
Upgrading on Roy Hibbert is a must, though the two names represent opposite ends of the spectrum. Whiteside just went off for averages of 14.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game, but he's a bit of a risk seeing as his breakout season came at the age of 27. Horford is a rock of a veteran with 14.3 points and 8.9 rebounds as career averages.
The rumblings make it seem like a center is the surest add for the Lakers this summer. Which one will not only say much about the direction of the franchise but of the hierarchy of the Western Conference playoffs for a long time.
Based on the need to improve now, look for the Lakers to lure in Whiteside. As for Horford, going somewhere to compete for a title makes the most sense, so look for the veteran to seek out a deal with Golden State.
Prediction: Lakers sign Whiteside; Warriors sign Horford.
The Harrison Barnes Market
As most predicted, it's Barnes matching Durant blow for blow on the rumors market.
Kidding aside, Barnes is one of the hottest commodities around right now after the best year of his career. The glimpses of greatness while mired behind Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on offense have some franchises wondering what Barnes could be capable of with a bigger role.
According to Marc Stein and Marc J. Spears at ESPN.com, the Philadelphia 76ers are one of those teams: "The Philadelphia 76ers intend to make a serious push for Golden State Warriors restricted free agent Harrison Barnes when the NBA's offseason marketplace opens Friday at 12:01 a.m. ET, according to league sources."
The 76ers are quite the interesting case. Barnes would only add to the impressive athleticism of the unit, a young one already boasting Ben Simmons, Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid.
In theory, Barnes could help space the floor with his shooting after he knocked down 44.6 percent of his shots from the field and 37.6 percent from deep over the first four years of his career.
More than anything, though, the 76ers are a good example of a team willing to spend perhaps a max offer sheet to get a four-year player—a proven boost. The 76ers won't be the only team looking to rip Barnes from the Warriors, but they're apparently the most prominent one right now.
Prediction: 76ers sign Barnes.
Strike 2 off Durant's List
It seems the elimination process has already begun for the quiet Durant, who hasn't generated anywhere near the amount of hype for this trip to the market than most would have expected.
As such, it sounds like the Lakers are right to already consider other options. Durant's hometown Washington Wizards can apparently move on to other things, too, having fallen off the list before the market even opens.
The note comes via USA Today's Sam Amick.
"Despite years of speculation about Durant possibly signing with his hometown Washington Wizards or the Los Angeles Lakers, a person with knowledge of his situation told USA Today Sports that those two teams are not expected to land a meeting with the former MVP," Amick wrote.
Per the report, Durant has six teams lined up for meetings, and the Lakers and Wizards aren't among them.
Can anybody blame him if it's true? Washington hasn't exactly done a great job building a convincing argument other than the duo of John Wall and Bradley Beal. In fact, it seems like zero effort when compared to a team like the Knicks, who just went out and traded for Derrick Rose—and do have a spot in all of this, per Amick.
The Lakers have done more thanks to three high-profile draft picks, but starting over and helping a rebuild doesn't seem like Durant's thing after coming up one game short of the Finals, especially not while dealing with comparisons to Bryant for the rest of his career.
This isn't to suggest Durant simply sticks with the Thunder. But two rather large players for his services just came off the board, and the Thunder already look better than last year after shipping away Serge Ibaka and getting Victor Oladipo.
Maybe Durant changes his mind on this topic. If he was just going to re-up with the Thunder, he probably wouldn't take all these visits in the first place. But for now, the rumors market has the Lakers and Wizards dead in the water, which makes sense compared to the other franchises still in the fray.
Prediction: Durant re-signs with the Thunder.
All stats and info via ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.
