A Done Deal

It would seem that the last thing the Golden State Warriors needed was a guy who scores.

More toughness, more rebounding, anything that would have helped them stave off the furious charge of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals that got away.

Instead? More scoring. The Warriors chased Kevin Durant, the marquee free agent in the NBA, and won the battle with the Boston Celtics and his former club, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Durant, a four-time NBA scoring leader, will bring a little more focus to the Warriors’ front court. He has averaged seven rebounds a game through his nine-year career. With guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson comfortable 25-30 feet from the rim, Durant will have plenty of room underneath to operate.

The Warriors like to rotate their players, usually not playing Curry and Thompson together. But they did burn the candle this past season in pursuit of that single-season victory record (73). The Cavaliers, by contrast, who were cruising in the Eastern Conference and through their first two easy playoff series, let players rest.

Now the Warriors are stacked. They’ve got three legitimate stars, a bit more muscle and a chance to complete the job they didn’t quite finish last month when they Cavaliers became the first team to come from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals to win it.

Ironically, the Warriors had done the same thing to the Thunder in the Western Conference finals, falling behind 3-1 before ripping off three straight wins. No doubt that impressed Durant, their newest member.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman