Durant has theraputic Olympics
The biggest free agent of the 2016 offseason is ready to join his new team as Kevin Durant had a successful experience at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
After electing to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder to join the Golden State Warriors, Durant spent the last few weeks with Team USA, playing alongside new teammates Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. The experience helped take some pressure off Durant for the amount of criticism he has taken for joining Golden State.
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“It was therapy for me after making a big change in my life,” Durant told The Vertical. “It made my life easier … I knew (a backlash) was coming. It was definitely different for me, but to come here in an environment where people accepted me and didn’t care about anything except being my buddy, that’s what I needed.”
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Golden State Warriors are favored to win the title next season. Golden State is getting -110 odds to win. Other short odds to prevail are the Cleveland Cavaliers (+275) and the San Antonio Spurs (+1200).
Durant signed a two-year, $54.3 million deal with the Warriors after losing to them in the Western Conference Finals last season. The move drew a lot of attention, but most of it was negative toward Durant. Adding to the negativity for him is that Russell Westbrook elected to re-sign with the Thunder a year before becoming a free agent, making it look like Durant didn’t want to be his teammate.