Kevin Durant praises trade as Thunder roar past Mavs
OKLAHOMA CITY — Kevin Durant called Thursday an easy day.
That notion was nearly comical considering the Oklahoma City Thunder completed a blockbuster three-team trade hours before dominating the Dallas Mavericks on the court.
But the reigning MVP said he went through shoot-around as usual, then took a nap. When he awoke, things were different for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Thunder had traded disgruntled guard Reggie Jackson, grizzly veteran Kendrick Perkins and Grant Jerrett in a three-team deal with the Detroit Pistons and Utah Jazz that netted them Enes Kanter, Steve Novak and Kyle Singler along with Durant's former college teammate, D.J. Augustin.
"I felt like everybody wanted to be here, except one guy," Durant said. "So it wasn't like everybody was just going crazy at shoot-around. I went to sleep and woke up, and we had new players. It goes like that sometimes."
The Thunder looked re-energized, too, as they dominated the Mavericks 104-89 with a short-handed roster to move into the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Suddenly, an injury-plagued season looks better moving forward, even if Durant is still bothered by his surgically repaired foot.
"It was really more of an opportunity for us to accomplish some short-term goals, but also in a way that would help us and allow us to continue to build our team going forward," Thunder general manager Sam Presti said about the trade. "It was a unique opportunity. We felt pretty good about the things being presented to us."
Presti said the hope is to have the new players ready to play in Saturday's game at the Charlotte Hornets.
The immediate reaction is that Oklahoma City is better.
Kanter brings an inside presence the organization has never possessed since moving from Seattle, and he's only 22. He is the centerpiece of the deal being able to provide versatility with his scoring ability at center. He was averaging career highs with 13.8 points and 7.8 rebounds a game with Utah.
"In our situation, we really like the versatility that all the front-line players have," Presti said. "They're all really different but we also feel like they can all play together.
"It rounds out the front line in a lot of ways. Steven (Adams) and Enes, we feel like their best basketball is front of them, but they're pretty good right now. And (Nick) Collison and (Serge) Ibaka and (Mitch) McGary, we like their skill sets and how they work well together."
Augustin is a quality backup point guard who can make his Texas running mate Durant feel even more comfortable as his free agency looms following next season.
But the future outlook is still to be determined with Kanter and Singler being restricted free agents.
"My first thought is that we add to our depth, we got a lot of guys that can play," said Collison, the veteran big man. "I think we're a deep team, but until we get everybody I don't really know."
Durant said he favors the trade despite losing Perkins, whom he singled out for his late-night motivational phone calls during his infamous MVP speech.
"I like the pickup of those guys," Durant said. "Me as a leader, I've got to make sure they feel comfortable the second they walk through that door.
"I like what everybody brings to the table. It's just a matter of us building the chemistry up."
If the new players mesh as well as the remaining unit did against the Mavericks, there may not be much opponents can do to stop the Thunder moving forward.
That was the exact message they hoped to send after a wild but rather easy day.
"It's huge, man. I think it shows our professionalism," Westbrook said. "Coming off the break, a lot of teams can come out and not play and make excuses. Tonight, I think everybody took it personal, came out with a chip on their shoulder and got a win."