Former Boston Celtics star and NBA legend Paul Pierce likes the idea of Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant joining forces with Stephen Curry on the Golden State Warriors once again.
“He can go back to Golden State,” Pierce said of Durant. “Go back to Golden State, everybody back. They won 40 — what they won, 46 games this year? You add K.D., you gon’ win about 54. Oh man, you gon’ have to give up [Jonathan] Kuminga though. You ain’t gon’ be able to keep him. You go for it for the last three years.”
Durant’s stint with the Warriors spanned three seasons, from the 2016-17 season through the 2018-19 campaign. While his time in Golden State was brief, he enjoyed the most success of his career from a collective standpoint with the team.
The 35-year-old helped the Warriors win two NBA titles and reach three NBA Finals. In order to secure the 2017 and 2018 NBA titles, Golden State had to eliminate LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals both years.
In the 2017 championship series, the Warriors beat the Cavaliers in five games, and Durant averaged 35.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists per contest while shooting 55.6 percent from the field and 47.4 percent from deep. Unsurprisingly, Durant was rewarded with the Finals MVP award after the series.
Fast forward to the following year, and Durant’s Warriors were even more dominant against Cleveland in the 2018 NBA Finals, as the team swept the Cavaliers in four games. The forward’s scoring average dipped a bit compared to the 2017 NBA Finals, but he still had an excellent all-around series.
Across four games, Durant averaged 28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game. Those numbers helped Durant earn his second NBA Finals MVP award in a row.
But since Durant left the Warriors for the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2019, his teams have seen limited success in the playoffs.
The 14-time All-Star hasn’t made it past the second round of the playoffs since the dawn of decade, and in the 2024 playoffs, he and the Suns were shellacked by Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the opening round.
Perhaps a return to Golden State is what Durant needs in order to get back to making deep playoff runs like he did earlier on in his pro career. Warriors fans should keep their eyes peeled for any trade rumors connecting Durant to the team in the coming weeks and months.
