Oklahoma City Thunder: Let SF Kevin Durant walk.
Sam Presti is one of the best general managers in the NBA. He made an outstanding trade with the Orlando Magic to get Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova, and the draft rights to the best rebounder in the college game the last two years in Domantas Sabonis.
Billy Donovan in one year has the Oklahoma City Thunder on the cusp on winning an NBA Championship. The Chesapeake Energy Arena crowd is known as Loud City for its collegiate-like reverberation. Let’s not forget that arguably the most athletic point guard in the game in Russell Westbrook plays for the Thunder.
So why would the biggest free agent on the market in Thunder small forward Kevin Durant even consider leaving Oklahoma City when he probably has the best team entering the 2016-17 after the Serge Ibaka trade with the Magic? Who knows what he’s thinking, but Oklahoma City cannot screw this up.
A player like Durant comes along once in a generation in a small market like Oklahoma City. The Thunder can offer Durant more money and that extra year because they obviously have his Bird rights after nine years on the team.
If he decides to re-up for one year in 2016-17 before hitting free agency after his 10th year in the league, he can qualify for what is known as the super max. Durant’s patience might be wearing thin, as he wants to win a championship in his prime to validate his standing among the all-time greats, but the optics aren’t good for his brand to leave Oklahoma City this summer.
However, we have seen small market organizations royally mess up with an all-time great in free agency. It won’t be as egregious as Shaquille O’Neal leaving the Magic before the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta for the Lakers before he reached his 25th birthday, but Durant leaving Oklahoma City when they are the favorites to win a championship is beyond unacceptable for the Thunder front office.
Next: Orlando Magic.