Durant Decided to Join...

These teams all had one thing in common: they were already Playoff Teams, or even championship contenders.

Add Durant, and a Playoff Team became a contender; a contender became an outright title favorite.

Durant was about to enter the tenth year of his career.

James won his first championship in his eleventh season, while Tang Tian, even excluding his first two years as a role player, won one in his fifth year.

If Durant still failed to win a championship, he would never have another chance to catch up to them.

Durant's destination drew the attention of the entire league, but it had little to do with the Pelicans.

Because they were the only team with no interest in Durant.

After finalizing the contracts of Davis, Tang Tian, Holiday, Bojan, and the others, the Pelicans turned their attention to minor adjustments.

Just as Tang Tian had predicted, Aminu was highly sought after on the Free Agency Market and had already received a four-year, $40 million offer from the Trail Blazers.

The Pelicans' payroll would surge over the next two years. With Holiday, Ariza, and Bojan already holding eight-figure role-player contracts, they were prepared to let him go.

So what they needed to reinforce was not only the Bench Point Guard spot after trading away Dinwiddie, but also backup Power Forward.

Of course, with McGee's contract expiring, backup center was also worth considering.

This year's Free Agency Market had plenty of role players besides superstars like Durant and Westbrook.

The Pelicans had a stable core lineup and young players as well. When making additions, experience and Ready-to-play players would definitely be their priorities.

There were quite a few role players on the Free Market who met their requirements.

At Point Guard, Jennings, Deron, Jamal Crawford, Jeremy Lin, and Augustin were all