Can Kevin Durant return to Oklahoma City?
At the end of the 2016-2017, Kevin Durant can opt out of his contract with the Golden State Warriors and become a free agent again. If he opts in, he can still become a free agent after the 2017-2018 season.
Durant has gone on record saying that he doesn’t want to go through the free agency process again, which leads many to think that he’ll be with the Warriors for the long term. But Durant also went on record and said that he wanted to play his whole career with the Oklahoma City Thunder. And we know how that turned out.
When Durant signed with the Warriors, many outsiders looked at it like LeBron James leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers and joining the Miami Heat. Four years and two titles later, LeBron came back to Cleveland and delivered a title to his home city. People suspected Durant would do the same thing. I even wrote that he might need to leave Oklahoma City, win a title elsewhere, and comeback with a championship mentality that seemed to be lacking all these years.
But can he comeback to Oklahoma City?
We all know that if Durant says he wants to return and OKC has the space for him, there will be little to hold him up. Sam Presti never wrote an angry letter in crayon that buried his former star. Fans were upset and disappointed and burning jerseys, but they’ll quickly buy a new jersey and forget that Durant never wrote a “Thank You, OKC” note if he wants to return. It would seem obvious that Durant would be welcomed back with open arms and all will be forgiven if he says, “OKC, I’m back.”
The Durant and OKC divorce has been a messy one and Russell Westbrook has been at the center of it, even though he’s publicly made no comments about Durant leaving. Durant’s former running mate seemed blinded by his friend leaving, forcing him to decide whether or not he wants to stay a year earlier than anticipated.
Reports have come out saying that Durant wasn’t as close with Westbrook as many believed, that Durant didn’t think Russ passed enough, that Durant was jealous of Westbrook’s dancing routine with Cameron Payne. Durant has admitted that his relationship with Westbrook probably won’t be the same. What you believe is up to you, but none of it looks good on the Durant and Westbrook relationship.
More from Thunderous Intentions
- Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
- Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
- 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
So, if Westbrook is still in Oklahoma City, can Durant return?
We would like to believe that Westbrook could look past what happened this offseason, re-unite with KD, and deliver a title to Oklahoma City. But this is Russell Westbrook we’re talking about. In a league where everyone is buddy buddy and players vacation on banana boats together, Westbrook is a throwback to the 80’s and early 90’s. A fierce competitor who has no friends on the court and doesn’t seem to like a whole lot of people off the court either.
I don’t know if Durant has reached out to Westbrook since signing with the Warriors. He doesn’t owe him an apology for making a basketball decision and Westbrook probably doesn’t want to hear what he has to say anyway.
If Westbrook re-signs with Oklahoma City and Presti and company continue to build the organization and team around him, will he want Durant back?
Next: Westbrook: Sidekick to Superstar
It can’t be easy to cut off communication from someone after spending nearly every day with that person for eight years. One would hope that both men can move past this and, if Durant decides to return down the line, Westbrook will be as welcoming as the city. But, did I mention that this is Russell Westbrook?
The scar of KD leaving without so much as giving him a heads up via text, the pain of seeing him joke around and laughing with a guy like Draymond Green, and the broken relationship isn’t going to go away anytime soon, if ever. It’s not unfathomable to think that Russ would say, “this dude left us when we were right there, now he wants to return and be some savior? Nah.”