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Report: Warriors to consider Gasol, Noah, others if Durant pitch fails

Rob Carr / Getty Images Sport / Getty

After a season in which they won a record 73 games but ultimately finished one win shy of a repeat championship, the Golden State Warriors aren't sitting on their hands.

With free agency fast approaching, the Warriors are both actively recruiting Kevin Durant and drawing up fallback plans in the event he rebuffs them.

Should Durant sign elsewhere, the Warriors plan to re-sign restricted free agent Harrison Barnes, and then try to add a veteran big man, sources told ESPN's Marc Stein. Some of the free-agent bigs reportedly on their radar: Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah, David West, and Timofey Mozgov.

The Warriors have said they'll be doing due diligence on just about every available player, with one front-office executive calling their offseason approach "very, very aggressive."

Their apparent pursuit of a big man may raise some questions about their plans for backup center Festus Ezeli, who, like Barnes, is headed for restricted free agency. Stein reports the Warriors are keen on retaining Ezeli, but won't have a sense of how he fits into their plans until Durant makes his decision.

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