I go back and forth on Durant. I don't like that he joined the Warriors because of how good they were. But it's not like anything changed in the East. Lebron and the Cavs have a straight path to the finals for the next 2-3 years. All this did was make it the exact same in the West. As for KD, when you spend 7 or 8 years with RWB and you see how fun it looks to play with GSW's, I can't exactly blame him for wanting to go there. But I think if Lebron never left for Miami, then Durant never leaves for GSW's. Even if it's not the same because the Heat were not a finals team the year before. It was done for the same reason. Lebron went to Miami to make it easier on himself and have fun playing with friends. KD went to the Warriors because it made it easier and probably looked fun compared to a bunch of "your turn, my turn" hero ball. If KD chose to join the Spurs/Rockets/Clippers the result would be nearly the same. The Cavs would be there in the end and the GSW's or the team KD joined would be there. And none of those teams are close to the fit or look nearly as fun to play with as GSW's. This all started in 2010 as far as I'm concerned and it could get worse.
The NBA could stop this by simply removing player max's. If Lebron or Steph or KD want to make 40m a year or 50m a year let them. Keep the salary cap there but allow players to make whatever they can get on the market. But why would they want to create some parity when their ratings are not suffering.
http://www.sbnation.com/2017/6/5/157...iors-cavaliers