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This 2020-21 NBA season has been one of the ages for the Golden State Warriors. After going into the offseason very optimistic due to returning all their stars back and healthy things took a turn as their All-Star guard Klay Thompson tore his right Achilles and their former Defensive Player of the Year forward Draymond Green, and #2 overall selection in the 2020 NBA Draft James Wiseman, both tested positive for coronavirus forcing them to miss training camp and preseason.
It didn’t help much either that the team began their season against their former Finals MVP and superstar Kevin Durant with the newly revamped Brooklyn Nets. As that game was a blowout hopefully the second time around would be better for the Warriors against them, until injuries struck again.
Golden State was undermanned in their latest matchup against the Nets as they still didn’t have any centers available to be able to play. It proved to be an issue as the Nets again have Durant who is over 6’11 and led the Nets in blocks that night and also was second in scoring behind the team’s point guard Kyrie Irving.
Over the season, there have been stories of who the Warriors should trade for to help reinvigorate them and what kind of All-Star caliber player would fit with this current version of the team. Yet, one analyst just breathed new life into the idea that their former Finals MVP could come back and prove that he is “always be a Warrior” in more ways than one.
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Possibility of Kevin Durant Returning to The Warriors
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This past week of the “Dubs Talk” podcast ESPN NBA analyst Nick Friedell explored the chances of Durant returning to the Warriors and how likely the scenario actually is. The answer may surprise you.
“I believe over time that [that theory] will gain more traction,” Friedell stated on the podcast via NBC Sports Bay Area.
“Whether or not Kevin does return at some point, we will see. But this has always been a guy who, clearly by what he’s done, is not afraid of trying some new stuff. And I think in his own mind, with his experience leaving OKC and because of his experience leaving the Warriors the way he did, he’s going to do what he feels most comfortable with in that moment,” Friedell elaborated.
“Had everything kind of soured in year three? Yeah. It had on a variety of levels. The relationships that he’s mentioned several times in the last couple years, those are genuine. We saw him talking before that first Nets game in Brooklyn with Steph for a while, and those two genuinely knew, as they paired, they took their own games to a different level.
Would Warriors Welcome Back Durant?
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While entertaining the possibility of Durant returning is a fun concept, the players on the floor may still have grievances to work out with one another. That was one of the reasons Durant left the team but could the primary one that, if fixed, would be the key to him suiting up in a Golden State jersey once again.
“As for Draymond, it always felt like it was more of a familial relationship, like they were two brothers. And when times were great, they were really great, and when times were bad, wow, they were really bad,” Friedell laughed as he recalled.
“I think that all the emotions that brought them together, could potentially bring them together again. And we will find out as everyone’s career plays out, but I know the Warriors would not be opposed to it, and I know having listened to Steph, and Klay, and Draymond through the years, if there is a way to make that happen to not only mend the fences, but make one more push to the top of the basketball world, maybe they do try to make it work.”
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