After the Golden State Warriors fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, they began recruiting who would ultimately become Kevin Durant, the Finals MVP over the last two seasons.
However, the Warriors weren’t the only team who came out of that Finals series looking to acquire the services of Durant. According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, the Cavaliers were willing to do whatever it takes to put another All-Star next to LeBron.
In late June 2016, just days after winning one of the most thrilling and historically significant NBA Finals in history, David Griffin, then the Cleveland Cavaliers’ GM, gathered his staff and gave them a directive: Explore ways to get Kevin Durant.
Everyone knew even getting a meeting was a long shot. They would have to gut most of their roster around LeBron James to acquire Durant. But they had to at least do their due diligence.
Fortunately for the Warriors, Durant made a decision that would ultimately change the history of the NBA. The team has now won three of the last four and are still among the favorites to win it all again this season.
There’s no telling how different the hoops world would be right how had Cleveland found a way to pair Durant with LeBron James, but I guess we’ll never know. It’s still pretty interesting to know that there was an off chance that the Cavaliers could have piled on more rings with a James-Durant duo.
