Donyell Marshall Embraces Role as Kevin Durant's Friend

Donyell Marshall wasn't exactly excited about leaving the playoff-bound Cavaliers for the basement-dwelling Sonics, but in the weeks since being traded he's warmed up to his new team.

In the latest entry on his blog, Marshall explains how he found out about the trade (from a reporter calling his cell phone), his blown-out-of-proportion flap with P.J. Carlesimo (it was over by halftime) and what he sees his role being with his new teammates, since he's not, you know, actually playing:

It was difficult, but I believe one reason that they brought a guy like me here was to mentor the young guys. And just like I was close to LeBron – within the first week me and Kevin Durant and Jeff Green talked a lot. Kevin said he really liked having me here and a lot of the players really don't talk to him. I sit down and have conversations with the young guys, and I guess it really wasn't like that before.

I don't know about you, but reading that kind of depressed me. I can imagine that some veterans might resent Durant for being hailed as the franchise's cornerstone even though he's the league's youngest player, but it also shouldn't have taken until the trading deadline for an older player to get into his corner. I know the salary cap dictated most of the team's deadline deals, but hearing this makes me wonder to what degree Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak and Kurt Thomas showed the rookie a cold shoulder.