Kevin Durant Can Still Get A Bucket, But He Should Not Be The Main Guy?

We put our KD fandom on the table and say the quiet part out loud: Kevin Durant might be at his best now as a true second option. We weigh elite scoring and efficiency against leadership questions, social media distractions, and what kind of team actually brings out the best version of him. 
• Why KD being a second option is not a diss but a roster advantage 
• The burner account rumors and why the distraction matters even if you do not care about Twitter 
• Leadership expectations for a No. 1 option versus leading by play 
• Trade fits where KD clearly slots behind a franchise centerpiece 
• Rapid-fire list of teams that could make KD terrifying as a No. 2 
• Our questions to you about value, emotions, and whether you would trade for him 
please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show 

Transcript

Quick Intro And The Premise

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's up, everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show, get a bucket. I'm your host, Trey and as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. If you wonder where you heard this before, that's because you've been listening Monday through Friday at 11 o'clock AM Eastern Standard Time. So, one, thank you all for listening. Also, spread the wealth. I'm trying to get the ratings up a little bit, you know, but what are we gonna be talking about? Of course, getting buckets per usual, but different topics. So let's talk about it, right? Well, not different topics, a different topic, I should say. And this one kind of hurts. Hear me out, right? Because if y'all listened before, y'all know I'm a Kevin Durant fan. And I got some KD dilemma. Not the NBA, not the Rockets. No, no, no. I personally have some KD dilemma. Now, Kevin Durant is my favorite player to watch. He has been ever since Kobe Bryant retired. And it kind of hurts me to say. I think KD officially needs to be the second option on the team. Don't get me wrong, there's still a world where, you know, he can still get it popping with these Rockets. But I mean, it could be time for KD to move on as the second option. And I don't think on the Rockets he'll be viewed as the second option. It's too early for Shingoon. It's too early for Armin Thompson. Like they're not better than him right now. Now keep in mind, over KD's timeline, over his tenure, over his history, he's been viewed as the star, right? OKC, star, part of the big three with Russ and James Harden. The Warriors, he was a star. At worst, 1B because Steph Curry was there first. The Nets, he was the star, 1A, because you had Kyrie and James Harden. You had the Suns, he was the star, 1A because you know Devin Booker was there. C V three, DeAndre Aiden, like cool. Rockets, he was the star. You got youth. Well, where should he go now? First and foremost, wherever he goes, wherever including back to the Rockets, we gotta cut this burner crap out. This is not the first time we've heard that. I don't even care if it actually happened. We gotta somehow, someway dispel that notion, that rumor mill completely for the future. Because it's not okay. Like I need you to come out, fella, and flat out say, no, I didn't do this. And be truthful with it. If you did it, be honest about it too. But then you need to call out a spade, you need to call spade to spade. Basically, you need to be open to your teammates about how you view them personally. You don't need to be going on social media and slandering folks. Like you're talking about Shingu. And I still don't exactly know what Buddy said directly. Because I don't even care. I just know that it's tiring to hear that he's on a burner account talking about people. That is like that notion has been here before, and I'm tired of hearing about it. And again, you are my favorite player to watch. And it it pains me to say that. And that's part of the reason why I feel like you need to be a second option. Because again, my first option, yeah, it's called get a bucket. I expect my first option to be able to get a bucket, and you do that better than almost anybody that I've seen occur. Efficiency-wise, 50, 40, 90 club, hello. You know what I'm saying? But again, the burner things, that's a problem. Because that's kind of speaks to your intangibles. Leadership, I question a little bit. Now, you can be a leader based on your play, because not everyone has to be vocal. Like, not everyone's gonna be the Jordans or the Kobe's. Look at Steph Curry. I don't think he's that same style leader. Draymond's more of that leader than Steph is, but people still view Steph because of his play. He also treats people decently, right? He's not described as moody. And I'm not talking about Moses moody, I'm talking about he's not described as moody, emotional, but Kevin Durant is. And if you're gonna be all that, well then get your ass on someone else's team, bro. Like, this is the first time where I've actually contemplated whether or not you should retire. This is the first time that I've legitimately contemplated it. And it's not because of your game, but it's because of the off-the-court antics. Like, this is there's a world where, hey, I mean, you you you he's too good to get black ball the way that Carmelo did, to be clear. But there's a world where we can start having that discussion. Now, if he does decide to go somewhere, right, where would he be the bona fide second option? Off top, I'm thinking of the Timberwolves, right? You got Anthony Edwards there, pairing with Ant Ant's favorite player to watch growing up. Like that's that's a good one. I like that one. How about the Pistons with Cade Cunningham? Because, you know, keep in mind, Ant Edwards, he can defend on the perimeter and still get a bucket. And then, you know, you need to drop the basketball off somewhere, blot out, KD right there. That's a that's an efficient 25 that you can just bank on on a nightly basis almost. Because again, if he gets doubled, well, hell, you gotta send the ball somewhere, KD, and Ant-Man gotta be around the corner somewhere. So if you're doubled, or if Ant's doubled, that means one of y'all getting single coverage, which means the world makes sense. Just say it. But again, that's the Wolves. Same thing with the Pistons, because they got Cade Cunningham. And keep in mind, Cade just need a second bucket, but need a second bucket getter, bro. Now, don't get me wrong, Toby has been hooping his tail off. He has been getting a bucket for sure. But I think if you had to choose between Tobias Harris and Kevin Durant just to get a bucket, I think you're picking Kevin Durant 10 times out of 10 and twice on Sundays. And no disrespect to Toby because Toby has been hooping. I like Toby. I've been like Toby. Hell, I like Toby when he was at Tennessee and he was a little chubby. Like, I'm I appreciate Toby's game. I thought Toby was an all-star, French all-star caliber player when he was at the Clippers, like Toby, I like Toby. But that's a place where he can go for the Pistons. The Magic, they already got Paolo Bancaro. Now there was a bleacher report notion that they said they should trade Paolo for KD. I think that was dumb. Whoever came up with that article is stupid. But getting Paolo to pair with KD, I think it's ironic. Because Paolo's rookie year, he tried to request KD to actually go to the Magic. So seeing him actually be there now, I think that would be kind of interesting. But again, the Rockets, they needed extra scoring and more shooting. And guess what? Getting a bucket is what Kevin Durant does at an efficient level. Now, how about the Denver Nuggets? Because we got Nicola Jokic, which was my request years ago, ladies and gentlemen. Years ago. I already made the video. One of my boys even said, You onto something there, Trey. Like, hey, dawg, let's make it happen then. Because I think Jamal Murray is not the second option that we need for that team. In fact, I think he's best at the third option, even though he was snapping in the playoffs. I'll give you that. They won a championship, solid duo to work with with Jokic. But I think when we've seen him go up against the Wolves now, they've had his number two years in a row in the playoffs. We got to talk about it. And that's going to be another discussion for another day. But getting KD on that squad could be a little interesting, especially if they can keep Aaron Gordon. Hey, yo. That's kind of nice. How about if KD spins the block back to the Warriors? They already got Steph Curry, who is the head on show. I think if KD goes back there, even if he is viewed as the best player, he's still viewed as the second option. And this is that redemption tour. Also, I saw a notion that they would get Braun, like the Warriors will try to get KD and Braun to pair with Steph and Draymond. I'd actually watch that team. Hell, I might even root for him. Because that would be interesting to watch. I can't even hold you. But seeing Kevin Durant go back to the Warriors' definitive second option. And it actually helps Steph Curry's legacy out a little bit too. Because now people can say, well, see, Steph Curry's number one option the entire time. I don't know. We can figure it out. How about my Lakers? Because I did mention Braun, right? How about my Lakers? We already got Luca Donc as our one option. It's good in theory. I'd have to see it work out. But again, Luca there. He don't have to be the second option. Luca can still score, and then he could get doubled. You playmate to Kevin Durant, who again is a 50-49, at least in the regular season. But then in the playoffs, he's not bad either. And that's still 25 plus points. Which, as your second option, just ask the Celtics how they felt about that. Because they have two players who have who can get 25 a night. That's kind of spectacular. And they're always going to be viewed as contenders because of that, along with their team construction. But that's a big part, to be clear. So again, my Lakers could use Kevin Durant. I'm just saying, throw our hats in the ring, fellas. Speaking of JB and JT, the Celtics, I don't know how in the world you do this financially, but they already got JT and JB. Now there might be a conversation about JB potentially being gone, but hell, you get Kevin Durant, everybody staying playing it. Again, I don't know how that happens financially. But everybody's gonna be playing it. I promise you right now with JT and JB. Get rid of everybody else. But if I get Kevin Durant, cool. We good. We just need to figure out the numbers, make it work. Maybe I need to go to the luxury train. I don't know what happens. I'm just saying, let's figure it out. The Bucks. You still technically have Giannis, even though y'all said that y'all are hearing trade offers. But guess what? If you get KD, maybe Giannis wants to stay. Maybe. Who knows? Now, if that relationship is soiled completely, then you know, forget the bucks. But the point is that Giannis would be the one option. Kevin Durant would be the second option. Who are you gonna double now? Who are we going to double? That's all I'm saying. Like, when I first if that trade happens, my very first thought would be, oh my, promise you. The Clippers. Kawhi Leonard's already there. Health is a factor. But if he's healthy, I think we gotta have Kawhi as the one option. KD is the second option. Because again, one, it's Kawhi's team. But two, again, he's a type of player that can also generate the double team. So who are you going to double, Kawhi or KD? Because that means somebody's gonna be butt-naked open. And I would love to see that matchup too, because there's a world where you can just let KD cook and get a bucket. And then Kawhi can just, you know, defend, get a couple buckets here and there, call it a day. But we've seen Kawhi snap before, too. And both of them can be relatively efficient. Just saying. So that can look pretty smooth too. But health would be a big factor, but KD would still be viewed as a second option for me. Talent-wise, who's better? We can have that discussion. But second option for sure. I'm going KD. Now the Spurs, we already know Victor Women Yama's there. That would be disgusting. Having KD and Wimby, that's tough. That's disgusting work. I don't know how we get it done. Maybe some of the young guns gotta make it work. But we we I hey, I would love to see that happen. I really truly would. Both of them. I'm about to start playing 2K again. Because that just sounds like something that 2K would produce, bro. I'm telling you right now. How about if KD were to spin the block all the way back to his roots, his original days, and go back, well, no, not to the supersonics. Although they could be trying to come back, but I don't think he'd be viewed as the second option. But the Thunder, because they got SGA already. I don't think the Thunder would pull this trigger, to be clear. But I would love to see him on the Thunder with someone like an SGA. And imagine if they can keep Hartenstein in check. They already went this far without J Dub. Maybe they look to part ways with J Dub. I don't think so. But who knows what happens. Bring KD back, win a championship. Hey, bro, that's a nice little storyline, nice little narrative. SGA gets another MVP, a finals MVP, all that good stuff. KD gets a championship again. I don't know what to tell you. But as a second option, I think that's what we need to do with Kevin Durant. Now we also got some other teams that could be like fringe, second option for Kevin Durant. We got the Hawks with Jalen Johnson, although KD's probably better. We got the Hornets with Lamello Ball, but KD's probably better. The 76ers, we could talk about it because Embiid's not healthy. He has not been consistently. And Tyrese Maxie's not better than KD. But again, that's a conversation to be had. Donovan Mitchell on the Cavs. Conversation to be had. Not quite, but I hear it though. It could be in the world. Maybe he just, maybe Don's just snapping because hey, you got KD to worry about, so you can't really double-team Don like that. The Bulls, definitively, that's KD's team. I don't care what nobody says, argue with your mama. The Wizards, if Anthony Davis is snapping and healthy, okay, cool. I hear you. The Jazz, nah, that'd be his team. The Pacers, maybe it's still Halliburton's team. And then KD's viewed as Amari Stodemeyer. Just not the dominant force, the scoring force I'm talking about. He'd be the best. He'd get a bucket better than anybody on that team, but it still might be viewed as Halliburton's team. The Knicks, that would be interesting. Jalen Brunson or him, I think JB might be viewed as the one option still. But you know what? He might be viewed as a second option. Hell, depending on how well Kat plays, too, he could be third. But we'll wait to see about that. The Raptors, I think actually, believe it or not, I think Scotty Barnes could make a run for that one option, to be clear. But we'd have to wait and see what happens with that. Blazers, definitively his team. I don't think Denny's better than him. Denny would make some noise, though, for sure. But I don't think that'd be. But it's a it's a you know, it's it could be a conversation. How about the Mavs? No, I think that'd be KD's team. So again, them first 11 teams I listed the Wolves, the Pistons, the Magic, the Nuggets, the Warriors, my Lakers, the Celtics, the Bucks, the Clippers, the Spurs, the Thunder. To be clear, the Bucs have to keep Giannis. But those teams would be second option for KD. But I'm curious, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, one, do you think it's time for KD to be viewed as the second option? I didn't even mention the Rockets. Because I already told y'all what needs to happen. So should it be time for him to move to the second option completely? Should he try to get one more run at it with the as the first option? Because to be fair, Fred Van Fleet did get injured, so maybe if he spins the block back, they run it back one more time, maybe we'll see what happens. Or should they, these 11, one of these 11 teams, look to make an acquisition with Kevin Durant? Do y'all think he's worth it? Do y'all think he's the good teammate to have on the team? Do y'all think he's too emotional? What's your thoughts about KD? I'm curious. And I want your honest opinion, because guess what? Y'all just got my honest opinion about my favorite player. And again, I've been a KD fan ever since his DC assault days where he was playing with Ty Lawson back in high school, AAU. That might have dated me a little bit, but I'm telling you right now, that's how long I've been a KD fan. And for me to take this statement right here, for me to take this stance right here, that should speak volume. So I'm curious what y'all think. But ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, that does conclude the end of the episode. So please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. My name is Trey. I'm the host of Good of Bucket. I hope you are all having a good one. Take care.