It's been just two days since the NBA regular season officially came to an end, and already the OKC Thunder are being tabbed as a potential destination for this summer's most polarizing trade candidate.
Following their loss to the Sacramento Kings on Sunday, the postseason-eliminated Phoenix Suns quickly started their long-expected franchise overhaul, with their first order of business being the removal of Mike Budenholzer from his duties as head coach.
Though what's next to come is still a bit up in the air, a popular belief is that the ball club will be looking to offload the final year and $54.7 million left on 15-time All-Star, Kevin Durant's contract.
Should such a parting of ways actually be coveted, there's no doubt that the future Hall of Famer will have a long line of interested teams dialing up GM James Jones (or whoever may replace him should he be canned as well) about his asking price.
Yet, despite the bevy of quality landing spots and potential destinations, as is always the case when it comes to a big-name star rumored to be on the move, the asset-hoarding Thunder have found themselves thrown into conversation as a potential trade fit, with former NBA two-guard Nick Young suggesting on an April 14 appearance on Gil's Arena that, if he were Durant, he'd only return to OKC.
"I would rather go back [to the Thunder] then go somewhere else and sh*t don't work out... If I go somewhere else and the same thing happens, at some point I got to be the problem," Young said.
Thunder already seen as possible trade destination for Kevin Durant
Despite the short duration of time between regular season's end and today, Young is far from the only individual to have broached the subject of a potential Kevin Durant-Thunder reunion.
Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report took no time penning a piece of possible blockbuster packages that would ship the veteran out of Phoenix this summer and, among the proposals mentioned, one was a deal with Oklahoma City involving "Isaiah Hartenstein, Luguentz Dort, Ousmane Dieng and whatever pick haul it'd take to beat everyone else's offer" for the 36-year-old.
Now, should fans be surprised about the team's inclusion in such rumblings? Considering the fact that Oklahoma City has the assets to strike on any trade they want and that, frankly, everyone (whether they admit it or not) is entertained by the idea of a storybook reunion such as this, no.
However, being the regular season literally just ended, and the postseason hasn't even begun, it may be a bit too early for people to actually start buzzing about a legitimate title hopeful like Oklahoma City realistically being in the running for someone who very likely will take them parting with a number of core rotation members on top of several draft picks to attain.
Let's see how this current iteration of the Thunder fares during their upcoming playoff run before we get into possible megadeals this summer, shall we?