How Should the Celtics Pitch Boston to Kevin Durant?

The Celtics get one chance to persuade Kevin Durant, and here’s how they’ll do it

It’s not going to be easy. Heck, Kevin Durant has already met with a couple of teams today, the first day of free agency, and Oklahoma City presumably has the final meeting with him – their second.

Reports have already surfaced that there is a 90 percent chance he stays with the Thunder next season as well. There’s still a chance for the Boston Celtics to shock the world and sign Durant, and they have the leverage to do so.

Evan Turner signed with the Portland Trail Blazers for four-years, $75 million, and Boston was smart enough not to offer anything higher or near that amount. For as important of a player as Turner was, paying your sixth man $17.5 million a season wasn’t how the Celtics were going to get closer to a title.

Instead, they’ve focused all their time, energy and money into trying convince the top two free agents this summer to come play for them – Al Horford and Durant. Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder are flying with the Celtics font office to meet with both Horford in Atlanta and Durant in the Hamptons. Having a team’s star player come along is almost a necessity nowadays when trying to convince a star to join your team.

Thomas is able to give a player view of what it’s like playing under Brad Stevens and tell Durant how great it is playing in TD Garden every night. Also, it’s never a bad idea to have your star player meet a potential teammate who will become as big of a part as Durant would.

Although, it’s interesting that the Celtics aren’t also bringing Avery Bradley and former Celtics’ great Bill Russell. The Golden State Warriors weren’t shy in bringing nearly their entire team to their meeting, and the Los Angeles Clippers are expected to have their Big 3 of Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin present.

It’s common for teams to bring past players to these type of meetings so they can give insight about how well their career went being in Boston. Also, about the legacy they now have, and the legacy Durant could leave. With 11 rings, Bill Russell definitely would have been a good person to have to help sell the winning tradition the Boston Celtics franchise is used to – arguably their biggest selling point.

Besides the fact Boston has 17 championships – the most in the NBA – the market they’re in has to be a big part of their plan to persuade Durant. While Oklahoma City has turned into a very good basketball city since moving there in 2008, it doesn’t have the same aura that TD Garden has, or that the Boston Celtics franchise owns.

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It speaks loudly that the Celtics have more championships than the Thunder have years in the league. Durant would not only be the best free agent signing in team’s history, but it would help his legacy and current brand a lot as well.

To start off, his legacy if joining the Celtics wouldn’t be that he teamed up with other superstars to win a championship – Golden State, Los Angeles, Miami – but instead he took a team on the brink of contention and pushed them over the top.

Sure, being with Oklahoma City since day one has a very nice ring to it, but it’s a lot harder to win a championship coming out of the Western Conference. Also, if he were the player to end LeBron James‘ Finals appearance streak, it would speak very loudly once he’s retired.

That leads me into why joining the Boston Celtics is the best fit for him now. The Thunder recently traded away Serge Ibaka and got a very nice, younger package together, yet there’s no guarantee Russell Westbrook re-signs next season. It’s hard to imagine that Durant will be able to win in the Western Conference without Westbrook, which makes the Eastern Conference and a team with their stars locked up for many years – the Boston Celtics – very enticing.

Durant could obviously sign a one-year deal and sign a long-term max contract next summer, but at the same time that’s not his personality. All reports indicate he did not enjoy his contract season, and is a reason why he’s making his decision quickly. I think he wants to sign a long-term deal this off-season, and there’s not a better situation than the Celtics.

Like previously noted, Westbrook might leave the Thunder. I don’t think he would want to be remembered as the guy who couldn’t win it by himself and had to team up with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and form a super team with the Warriors. He doesn’t want to catch the same wave of hate that James did after The Decision.

Curry is also one of the league’s biggest star, which could impact Durant’s brand. Plus, Curry being an Under Armour client and Durant being with Nike could become an interesting mix, with them both being major clients of their respective companies. With Curry’s shoe doing significantly better, it could diminish the Durant brand if playing together, something he doesn’t want.

Also, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are set to be free agents next off-season, which could make the Clippers run into financial issues after just one year. Of course, the Clippers could trade Griffin this summer, but then their pitch of forming a Big 4 becomes irrelevant.

The Miami Heat just re-signed Hassan Whiteside, who said he’d take less to sign Durant. Although, it’s hard to say Miami is in a better situation than Boston.

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Boston has Thomas, Bradley and Crowder locked up for just $21 million next season. They own some of the most team-friendly contracts in the league, and also sport a potentially very high draft pick in each of the next two drafts. Not to mention, Danny Ainge told the Boston Globe that he feels confident in reaching a deal with Al Horford this off-season.

Getting Horford to agree on a deal with the Celtics would surely instill a lot of confidence into the Celtics heading into their meeting with Durant. All of a sudden the Celtics would have a two-headed monster formed, and with a superstar could be seen as the favorites in the East.

When it comes down to it, a sports city like Boston can make him a legend. John Havlicek, Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Kevin Garnett, and now Kevin Durant. That’s what the city does, it turns stars into legends.

He’ll be closer to Washington D.C. – where he grew up – and he’ll have as good of a shot in Boston as anywhere else in the league to win titles. Maybe it’s a long-shot, but playing under one of the best, young coaches in the game for the next four seasons doesn’t sound like a bad idea in any stretch of the imagination.

Next: Celtics Fail to Re-Sign Turner, Opens Door for Brown

The Celtics have the legacy, the money, the market and the team; they’re just missing Durant.

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