With Kevin Durant expected to make his free agency in the near future, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders is reporting that interest in the Golden State Warriors is increasing.
Hearing Kevin Durant is strongly considering Warriors. He meets Thunder tonight, then he's likely to announce decision on @PlayersTribune.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) July 3, 2016
This is certainly big news. Despite the best efforts of the Warriors, Durant has largely been expected to return to the Oklahoma City Thunder. If nothing else, this news seems to eliminate other teams, making the Durant sweepstakes a two-horse race between the Warriors and Thunder.
At the very least, the people putting Oklahoma City’s pitch together now know that it needs to be really good. If he’s “strongly considering” Golden State, one would have to figure that money is not his only issue. While the Warriors will certainly offer plenty of money, the Thunder remain Durant’s best option in that regard.
Logically, Oklahoma City’s final pitch had better include not only money, but an organizational plan on how to pass teams like the Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, and Cleveland Cavaliers.
If it doesn’t, then Durant may well leave the Thunder and head to the reigning Western Conference champs.