Late Saturday night, ESPN's Chris Broussard tweeted that he was being told that Kevin Durant 's decision could co me in the next 24-36 hours. That decision would be lined up with being between Sunday evening and Monday Morning.
Durant has met with the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers, and the Boston Celtics up to now. In addition to starting off with his own team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Durant's meeting with the Miami Heat on Sunday, his decision would come after a total of six meetings.
How did those meetings go?
OKC had the first meeting with KD on Thursday before free agency started and reports came out afterwards saying that there was already a 90% chance that he will re-sign with the Thunder. If that report was indeed true, then that doesn't leave the other teams much of a chance to sway him but they were sure going to try.
Each team that he has met with so far has brought their star players to their meeting with Durant. The Celtics even allegedly brought Tom Brady, from the New England Patriots, with them for their meeting.
The team that was largely regarded to as the biggest threat to OKC and could steal Durant from them is the Golden State Warriors, and they had the first meeting with him. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson , Steve Kerr were among the host of people the warriors brought to their meeting. The Clippers brought their eccentric owner, Steve Ballmer, along with Doc Rivers, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan . The Spurs brought their ownership along with Gregg Popovich and LaMarcus Aldridge .
It is impossible to know or even guess exactly how these meetings went. Reports that surfaced afterwards all said that their meetings went well, but really what else would we expect them to say?
What will KD's decision be?
We can almost certainly rule out the Clippers as they were already short on cap space and signed back Wesley Johnson and Austin Rivers Saturday evening.
The Heat are going through roster changes and uncertainty at the moment. Chris Bosh's future is still cloudy, Wade is still a free agent and is looking at other teams, and they just lost Luol Deng to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Boston Celtics went beyond by bringing Brady to their meeting but the only real trump card they have is the fact that they are in the Eastern Conference. It does help them that they agreed to sign Al Horford to a four-year contract two nights ago.
The Warriors and Spurs seem to have the highest chance at signing him but the problem with the Spurs is the fit with them already having Kawhi Leonard as their SF and LA as their PF. They also have a thin and questionable backcourt that they won't be able to fix easily. The Warriors are the defending Western Conference Champions, but Kevin Durant would go into a situation where his would be fighting for touches with the reigning two-time MVP. Sure they could make it work but is it worth it for a guy like Durant. Also, Curry is a free agent after next season. All signs point to him being a Warrior for life, but it's the NBA and anything could happen so KD signing long-term there doesn't seem like the smart thing to do.
This writer ultimately thinks he will end up signing back with Oklahoma City under a two-year contract with an opt-out clause after the first year. That form of contract was made popular by LeBron James and makes tons of financial sense for KD. Kevin Durant could enter the free agency again next year looking for record money and possibly a chance to go to a new team with his running mate, Russell Westbrook.
KD's decision is expected to come this morning via The Player's Tribune. This entire spectacle has sure made for an exciting holiday weekend. Happy 4th of July folks!
