As the NBA Free Agency looms near, there are a lot of speculations as to how the Golden State Warriors will handle the Kevin Durant situation. Durant is expected to miss the whole of next season. This poses a huge problem for the Warriors as he is one of the key aspects of their offense. While Durant's rest is already a certainty, the main focus for the Warriors now is to look for potential players that can fill his vacancy.
As discussed in previous articles, the Warriors has a couple of options in dealing with the Durant situation. They can choose to re-sign him, help rehab his injury, and ultimately trade him should he demand it. This particular scenario will prove beneficial to both parties. Durant can get his 5-year max contact for a lot of money, and the Warriors can trade him for a lot of assets.
This trade scenario is still shrouded in uncertainty. For now, these are three interesting replacements for Durant while he is absent on the court.
Rudy Gay
While not exactly on the same level as Durant, Rudy Gay is well within that pedestal. The 12-year veteran is now an unrestricted free agent, and with his important role in the San Antonio Spurs rotation, acquiring Gay will be quite tricky for the Warriors. It will be hard, but not entirely possible.
Spurs will not be the only threat in this particular scenario. Following the Kawhi Leonard trade, Gay became one of the focal points of the Spurs' offense. Along with DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldrige, they were able to power the Spurs machine up until the highly contested 7-game series against the Denver Nuggets. This improvement will surely put Gay in the target of not only the Warriors, but also a lot of teams.
Trevor Ariza
Trevor Ariza is one of those typical role-player wingmen. He is not exactly as versatile or as productive as Durant, but he does his job. And he does it well. Warriors had already targeted in Ariza in the past, and looking at his current price, he is well within the team's range. Ariza averaged 9.9 points and 5.6 rebounds last season. Not exactly on the same bracket as Durant, but he will surely fit for a team with such a fast pace as the Warriors.
Right now, Ariza is also on sight of some playoff caliber team. Among those that top the list are the Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
