Fansided

NBA Free Agency 2019: 5 potential destinations for Kevin Durant

By Bryan Toporek

Photo by Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images
Photo by Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images /
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 26: Stephen Curry #30 and Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors leave the court with a lead late in the fourth quarter in a 129-110 win over the LA Clippers during Game Six of Round One of the 2019 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center on April 26, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 26: Stephen Curry #30 and Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors leave the court with a lead late in the fourth quarter in a 129-110 win over the LA Clippers during Game Six of Round One of the 2019 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center on April 26, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. /

2. Golden State Warriors

If taking only basketball into consideration, Durant has no good reason to leave the Warriors this summer.

Since he signed with them in 2016, they have yet to lose a playoff series. They’re in the midst of their fifth straight NBA Finals appearance and could be on the precipice of winning their fourth ring in five years. The Warriors can also offer Durant one extra year on his contract and nearly $60 million more than any other suitor can.

And yet, it appears as though none of that will be enough to retain him.

Durant’s reported interest in joining the Knicks is the worst-kept secret in the NBA, while the Clippers and Nets can make appealing free-agent pitches, too. If he’s seeking validation as his team’s unquestioned No. 1 option — something he’ll never get in Golden State so long as Stephen Curry remains there — he’ll have to head elsewhere this summer.

The Warriors’ recent playoff success with Durant sidelined by a calf injury likely isn’t helping their chances of retaining him this summer. He’s been barraged with nonstop questions about whether they’re better without him (they aren’t) or more enjoyable to watch (they are), and he sounds rightfully frustrated about that lingering narrative.

Durant could re-sign with the Warriors and keep racking up rings with Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, but “most people in the NBA don’t expect Durant to re-sign with the Warriors no matter what happens in the playoffs,” according to Tim Kawakami of The Athletic. When there’s this much smoke suggesting he’s soon to depart Golden State, we have to assume there’s a fire behind it.

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