This is a sign that the Kevin Durant knee injury is at least fairly serious.
The Golden State Warriors are changing course and plan to sign Matt Barnes to give them some depth on the wing going forward, reports Marc Stein and Chris Haynes of ESPN.
ESPN sources tell @ChrisBHaynes and me that Golden State plans to sign veteran swingman Matt Barnes in the wake of the Kevin Durant injury.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 1, 2017
Sources tell Haynes and me that the Warriors plan to sign Jose Calderon as they promised but then waive him to make room for Matt Barnes.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 1, 2017
Important to note that an official diagnosis on Kevin Durant is not yet known, but the Warriors clearly feel the need to add a swingman.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 1, 2017
Barnes seems to confirm this with an Instagram post of his text conversation with Stephen Jackson.
[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/BRFh_Mmglsb/?taken-by=matt_barnes9&hl=en[/embed]
Golden State had come to an agreement with Calderon, and even though nothing is yet in ink signing him then waiving him is the classy thing to do (and puts some money in Calderon’s pocket).
Barnes, at age 37, is certainly no Kevin Durant, but he can play the role as a “3&D” wing. How well he plays it is the question, Barnes is shooting just 38.4 percent overall and 32.7 percent from three this season for the Kings. Barnes was waived after Sacramento traded DeMarcus Cousins.
The Warriors feel they need another body on the wing, which is clearly a sign something is up with Durant.