The NBA free agent period officially begins at 12:01 a.m. EST tomorrow morning, meaning that, at that time, A-listers like Kevin Durant will have his phone blowing up, receiving pitches from teams who want the one-time league MVP.
And while teams like the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs can sell Durant on becoming the third piece of a Big 3, the L.A. Clippers have a different kind of plan—Come join a Big 4!
Per ESPN:
Sources indicate that Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul could also attend to pitch the Oklahoma City Thunder free agent on being part of a “Big Four.”
The pitch will be to get Durant to join them this offseason, and Plan B would be to get him to consider joining the trio next season if he ends up signing a one-year contract elsewhere.
To demonstrate their commitment to keeping Griffin, Jordan and Paul, as Doc Rivers said publicly after the season, sources said the Clippers invited all three players to attend their meeting with Durant.
While team sources could not immediately confirm that all three players would be able attend, inviting all three is an important affirmation of Rivers’ previous statements about keeping the team’s core together.
This isn’t groundbreaking news by any stretch of the imagination—you want your best players to help pitch another superstar to join a team. But will the idea of putting four stars together be something that KD wants so he doesn’t need to shoulder so much of the load, or will he laugh off the pitch knowing there would be too much sacrifice by each guy?
Honestly, though, this is the best effort the Clips can come up with? As David Covucci so aptly said by comparison, “That’s a revolutionary plan, telling Durant who is currently on the roster! That’d be like me wowing house guests with beer already in my fridge from last week.”
Will this shit actually work on one of the premier players in the league? Sadly, it just might.
[H/T ESPN]