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Kevin Durant’s business partner says KD “100 percent undecided” on free agency

By Kurt HelinMay 22, 2019, 11:00 AM EDT
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Re-sign with Golden State and continue the dynasty?

Become the latest savior in New York? Join an L.A. Clippers team that seems just a star away from being a real threat in the West?

Kevin Durant will have options as a free agent this summer, and while he has been linked to the Knicks since this season tipped off, his business partner Rich Kleiman (a New Yorker who goes to Knicks games, which has fueled that speculation) says Durant has not made any decision, speaking at a Wall Street Journal event.

Kleiman also backed Durant’s penchant for getting into it with fans on social media.

Of course Kleiman says Durant has not decided about free agency, what else is he going to say? “We’ve totally got a handshake deal in place already, I just can’t talk about it yet.” Plenty of fans may believe a deal is in place (I do not), but whatever the reality, Kleiman said exactly what he had to say about KD’s future.

Durant right now is focused on getting his calf healed by a week from Thursday, when the NBA Finals tip-off. The Warriors are going to need him against Toronto or Milwaukee, both of whom provide interesting matchup problems for Golden State.

Besides, Durant would prefer we talk about basketball games, not free agency, right now. The point of getting Durant would be to be one of the teams left standing at this point in the season in the first place. Except there are three fan bases with teams left playing and 27 thinking about next season. There is far more interest from fans league-wide about what is next, more than what is going on right now. That’s not a media creation, that is simply what fans want, what they talk about and read about. It’s the reality of today’s NBA, like it or not.

I believe Kleiman is telling the truth, Durant has not made a decision yet. KD has not shown to be the guy who makes early decisions and sticks with them in the past, he waits it out then makes his call. How he’s feeling come July 1 may well be different from today. No doubt Kleiman and Durant have talked about free agency — extensively — and they have leanings, but a final call is still a ways off.

Which means the rumors and speculation will continue.

Are the Clippers, Knicks really equal threats to sign Kevin Durant?

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By Dane DelgadoMay 22, 2019, 8:55 AM EDT
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Is Kevin Durant going to stay with the Golden State Warriors? Is he going to sign with the New York Knicks? How about the Los Angeles Clippers? We just don’t know whether Durant will stay with the best team ever assembled, or strike it out on his own with several championships under his belt.

Durant is not currently playing for the Warriors, having injured his calf and missed the entirety of the Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers. However, a new report says that there are rumblings that the Los Angeles Clippers are a serious destination for Durant should he decide to opt out of his contract and leave Golden State.

The only caveat? According to Mark Stein, all of the aforementioned teams have been rumored as the “favorite” for Durant by people he trusts.

Via NY Times Newsletter:

Within the last month, very smart and plugged-in people I have consulted say that the Los Angeles Clippers have emerged as an equally dangerous threat to the Knicks to sign Durant away from Golden State. And I believe it.

Problem is, at various points during the season, I have heard trusted insiders state with conviction that Durant is already planning to join the Knicks … and then that he is likely to consider the Nets as well … and now that he is eyeing the Clippers just as intently as New York.

It leads one to conclude that maybe the best forecast, at least for the moment, is that nobody but Durant and his business manager Rich Kleiman know.

Durant is one of the more tiring personalities in the NBA, and his constant need for ego-stroking has worn thin despite the Warriors’ success. If he decides to leave — and it just sort of feels like he will at this point — no doubt it won’t be the last we hear of this story.

First five picks of 2018 NBA draft make All-Rookie first team

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By Dan FeldmanMay 21, 2019, 2:32 PM EDT
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Remember the first five picks of last year’s draft?

1. Suns: Deandre Ayton

2. Kings: Marvin Bagley

3. Hawks (to Mavericks): Luka Doncic

4. Grizzlies: Jaren Jackson Jr.

5. Mavericks (to Hawks): Trae Young

A year later, and those same five players comprise the All-Rookie first team.

Here’s the full voting (first-place votes, second-place votes and voting points in parentheses):

First team

Luka Doncic, DAL (100-0-200)

Trae Young, ATL (100-0-200)

Deandre Ayton, PHO (95-5-195)

Jaren Jackson Jr., MEM (60-39-159)

Marvin Bagley III, SAC (56-44-156)

Second team

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, LAC (40-58-138)

Collin Sexton, CLE (39-54-132)

Landry Shamet, LAC (3-79-85)

Mitchell Robinson, NYK (3-71-77)

Kevin Huerter, ATL (1-43-45)

Also receiving votes: Mikal Bridges, PHO (1-29-31); Kevin Knox, NYK (0-22-22); Josh Okogie, MIN (1-10-12); Jalen Brunson, DAL (0-10-10); Allonzo Trier, NYK (0-10-10); Rodions Kurucs, BRK (0-9-9); Wendell Carter Jr., CHI (0-7-7); Miles Bridges, CHA (1-4-6); Bruce Brown, DET (0-2-2); Harry Giles III, SAC (0-2-2); Mo Bamba, ORL (0-1-1); Aaron Holiday, IND (0-1-1)

This is only the second time the top five picks all made the ensuing All-Rookie first team. The other: 1984-85, when the top five picks were:

1. Rockets: Hakeem Olajuwon

2. Trail Blazers: Sam Bowie

3. Bulls: Michael Jordan

4. Mavericks: Sam Perkins

5. 76ers: Charles Barkley

I don’t think voters erred by favoring bigger-name players this year. I had the same first-team picks.

My only quibble: I would’ve put Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson on the second team over Kevin Huerter and Collin Sexton. Sexton made incredible strides during the season, but focusing on that obscures his awful start in what I think should be a full-season assessment. His box plus-minus (-5.2) is the worst ever for an All-Rookie teamer since Adam Morrison in 2007 (-5.5).

But if Sexton continues on the track he showed within the season, nobody will view him as another bust.

This is an impressive rookie class, led by Doncic. This will be the first of many honors for several of these players.

Lamar Odom says he has slept with more than 2,000 women, is ’embarrassed’ by cheating on Khloe Kardashian

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By Dan FeldmanMay 16, 2019, 1:21 PM EDT
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Lamar Odom nearly died from an overdose at a brothel in 2015.

Apparently, mixing those vices was quite common for the former Lakers/Clippers/Heat/Mavericks forward.

Odom has opened up about his cocaine addition before, including how it damaged his marriage to Khloe Kardashian. Now, he’s addressing his sex addition, which intersected with his drug problem.

Aili Nahas of People:

The 39-year-old reveals that he has had sex with more than 2,000 women. “There were too many strippers to count,” he writes. “It wasn’t a big deal, but often I would pay them. I never thought less of them.”

Odom also reveals that he cheated on Kardashian throughout their marriage; she eventually discovered the infidelities.

“I was shocked and embarrassed,” he tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview. “I wanted to take it back, but you can’t. [I] wanted to hide it. But that sick sin was hard for me to hide … I had a problem.”

“Sex was a trigger for me to do drugs,” he tells PEOPLE. “Because you double up on [that] good feeling.”

Hopefully, Odom finds a lifestyle that brings him peace. There have been mixed signals about his ability to do so in the aftermath of his near-death incident.

Report: Clippers agree to new contract with Jerry West

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By Dane DelgadoMay 15, 2019, 10:00 AM EDT
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The Los Angeles Clippers have one of the best front offices in the NBA, and now it should remain stable.

After a rough start to his tenure owning the team, Steve Ballmer decided to let the basketball experts do what they do best, hiring a front office squad that included Jerry West. As a special consultant, West has been part of the team with GM Michael Winger that helped Los Angeles to be more than the sum of their parts this season.

According to a report from Shams Charania, West will remain with the Clippers after signing a new deal with the team.

Via Twitter:

The Clippers have a big offseason coming up, with a lot of cap space available and of course Kawhi Leonard or Kevin Durant potentially on their horizon as free agents.

West holds some serious weight, not only in the Los Angeles basketball sphere but around the NBA. The Clippers will need him as they try to angle their way to the next step after a quick rebuild.