Kevin Durant should stay with the Golden State Warriors if they win the NBA Championship this year.
That’s the opinion of Fox Sports analyst Chris Broussard, who has been in personal contact with the Warriors star recently.
The 29-year-old only signed a two-year deal with the all-conquering Warriors recently and could explore his options in free agency next summer.
The 2014 MVP was able to sign for up to four years in California with the back-to-back champions with his shorter deal leaving the potential to jump ship next summer.
Broussard, however, has warned the power forward against doing that.
He told First Things First: “If Kevin Durant likely wins his third championship this year – whether he’s Finals MVP or not, he may be again, he may not be, that doesn’t really matter – I think the best option is look to stay in Golden State.
“You could win four or five rings, who knows how many you could win. You could win more than LeBron James and claim to be the greatest winner of this era.
“Some people already think he may be better than LeBron James so legacy-wise, it’s great to stay in Golden State.”
But if Durant does want to leave, he will have a host of suitors – with the New York Knicks reportedly planning a pitch if he does opt out of his contract to become an unrestricted free agent.
The FS1 pundit added: “If you want to leave, I would look at New York. They’re going to have money for maybe two max guys.
“What if Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving go to New York to join Kristaps Porzingis? Maybe Kevin Knox becomes a player, [then] that’s something special.
“It’s always good to be in the East. This is my thinking. I have no reason to think he wants to go home.
“But Washington wouldn’t be a bad place, you’d have John Wall, Bradley Beal, [coach] Scott Brooks.
“The Lakers, I think there’s reason for him to stay and keep beating LeBron rather than to join him but certainly if he went to the Lakers, that’s not a bad move.”
Carmelo Anthony doesn’t have the defensive qualities to make his move to the Houston Rockets work, NBA insider Ramona Shelburne worries.
Anthony was traded by the Oklahoma City Thunder and waived by the Atlanta Hawks to open up a move to Houston, where the 10-time All-Star will sign a one-year $2.4m deal.
The 34-year-old is coming off the the worst season of his career last year and put up some poor numbers in a number of key categories – including just 16.2 points per game on average.
And while Shelburne believes Anthony may have success from three-point range, Houston’s strong-point last season, she fears the veteran forward will struggle on the opposite end of the floor.
“Yeah, sorta. I want this to work out, I just don’t know that he can,” respected journalist Shelburne told The Jump on ESPN.
“He’s going to be a better scorer in Houston, he’s going to fit that role I think because it does fit his skill set and they don’t care what kind of percentage he shoots from three.
“In Houston it’s about how many threes you can make, not about whether you can make 40 per cent. He’s going to get a lot of looks.
“On the defensive side of the ball, it’s not about effort for him or buying in there – he’s just not that good a defensive player.
“And so even if he starts games, I don’t know how they can have him out there defensively finishing games.”
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