How Kevin Durant could join the Raptors

Adding a superstar to the Raptors sounds wonderful in theory. How is it in practice? Is there a way to sign Kevin Durant?

When discussing the championship prospects of the Toronto Raptors, there are a significant number of green lights, and one obstreperous red.

Among the greens:

• continuity is well-established. The coach has proven himself capable of winning both in the regular season and (finally!) in the playoffs. The General Manager hasn’t put a foot wrong on any major decision since he (re)arrived in 2013. Ownership stands firmly and quietly behind its executives. Finances are not an issue. San Antonio North? Not yet, but on the way…
• the team’s roster consists largely of youthful veterans, and isn’t plagued by dissension
• unlike win-now squads like Brooklyn and the Knicks, the Raptors haven’t mortgaged their future by trading first-round trade picks

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And the red light?

As so many members of Rapture Nation have pointed out, our team lacks a superstar.

Guys who fit that description are precious and few, and already gainfully employed. Kevin Durant, the OKC Thunder’s power forward, is a 7-time All-Star, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player of 2014; here’s a list of accomplishments for this guy, who needs no introduction here. If Durant is not on your personal list of the NBA’s Ten Best Players, I don’t know what game you’re watching.

Durant instantly brought himself to the attention of Raptors fans by declaring himself a fan of the team, and Vince Carter in particular, while growing up.

Whether he’s retained that soft spot for the Raptors is impossible to know. Durant has been tight-lipped about his plans for next season and beyond. He’s still in shock about his team losing the last three games of the Western Conference finals to Golden State.

For purposes of this post, we’ll assume Durant still has Toronto on his negotiation list, and that Masai Ujiri wouldn’t mind adding him to our team. I suspect we could find some minutes for Durant.

This being the NBA, money has to come first. If Kevin is coming, DeMar DeRozan is going. Both these want max contracts, and Kevin’s claim to one is unassailable. Nor could I find any way to keep Bismack Biyombo. There’s no consideration given to the return of Luis Scola, James Johnson or Jason Thompson.

Here’s Pass 1, with my starters for Game 1 next season listed first:

Notice I don’t have to allocate money for draft picks, as they can be signed even if so doing puts the Raptors over the salary cap of around $92 Million. MLSE will cheerfully pony up whatever luxury tax payment is demanded.

I’m pleasantly surprised by my calculations, as getting to $94.8M is as good as getting to the cap. There’s lots of things Masai can do to slide under the cap, starting with asking Kevin to take less money in Year 1 of a three-year deal, then getting paid back in subsequent seasons as the cap resets ever higher.

Masai could dump Cory Joseph, which would be ironic, given that it was San Antonio’s cap issues after signing Lamarcus Aldridge which made our backup point guard available to Toronto. Note Masai would have to waive at least some of the returning salary, or the move is without purpose.

Next: Raptors best draft picks ever - slideshow

How do you like your new roster featuring Kevin Durant, Rapture Nation? Drop me a Comment.