Before Kevin Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors in 2016, the Washington Wizards were one of the teams that went all out to try and sign the former NBA MVP. Everyone knows that that plan did not come to fruition, but as it turns out, John Wall knew all along that they were never going to land Durant.
Wall opened up on the Team 980 radio program and shared how he had already envisioned Washington's botched attempt to bring Durant on board.
“We felt like we weren't getting Kevin, just from knowing everything and thinking ahead,” the Wizards star said, via Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. “Like, okay we know Kevin's not coming here so just keep the core we have. We have a great core with Trevor Ariza and all the guys we had. Don't get me wrong, Paul was great for us. Paul Pierce was great for us, but we just felt like that experience we had with Trevor and the way he was shooting the ball and things and the way he defended, he was the perfect person we needed for LeBron [James]. Even though nobody's going to stop LeBron, he just made it tough on LeBron.”
Not only does Wall rue the failed attempt to lure Durant to D.C., but he also regrets the fact that the Wizards had to part ways with Trevor Ariza in order to open up some room for Durant.
“One thousand percent. We still think about that to this day. I feel like that was the biggest piece we lost,” Wall said about losing Ariza.
That's all water under the bridge now, obviously, and at this point, the Wizards have more pressing matters to address. The most important of which is the John Wall-Bradley Beal partnership and how long the front office intends to keep that boat rocking.
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