Where in the NBA Will Kevin Durant Land?

Published on 26-Jun-2016 by CJ

Basketball - NBA    NBA Daily Update

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Where in the NBA Will Kevin Durant Land?

It's been a week since the NBA finals came to a shocking conclusion.

The Cleveland Cavaliers became the first team in NBA Finals history to come back from a 3-1 deficit and hoist the hardware.

LeBron James cried tears of joy.

Cleveland partied, maybe a little too hard.

And JR Smith has yet to put on a shirt

Attention now turns to the summer offseason, with roster shuffles well under way.

Teams will question if they should keep their core players, upgrade their roster, or maybe sell the farm and/or look to tank for a good draft slot in 2017.

These decisions work both ways, of course, as free agents are already shopping their services.

Amidst the noise, however, the dude at the top of every team's list will be a UFA virgin:

Kevin Durant had a stellar comeback performance this season after his previous year’s campaign was cut short to 27 games by foot surgery.

Dude’s 28.2 points per game (PPG) ranked third in the league in scoring, which contributed his being seventh-best in shooting percentage.

The healthy Durant-Westbrook duo helped propel the Thunder back to the post-season, where they got the Warriors down 3-1 before Golden State staged a comeback to win the series in seven.

Still, Durant had a great individual post-season, leading the playoffs with 28.4 PPG and 40.3 minutes per game.

So, should he stay with the only team he's ever known? Or not?

The Thunder are, being diplomatic, a frugal franchise. Nowhere was this more evident than when they traded away KD’s buddy and then-budding star scorer James Harden to the Rockets in order to save money.

This move undoubtedly cost the team a chance to get back to the Finals in the following years.

With that being said, the Thunder can pay Durant more money than any other potential suitor. NBA rules allow them to offer a five-year max deal, as opposed to a 4-year max. Unlike Harden, Oklahoma City is totally willing to pay the Slim Reaper every red cent.

Besides money, the Thunder also surround Durant with a potential championship roster. Start with another Top 10 player in Russell Westbrook and continue to role players like Steven Adams, Enes Kanter, and André Roberson.

OKC also upgraded on draft night when they traded Serge Ibaka -- who found his role diminished in the postseason -- for Victor Oladop, Ersan Ilyasova, and draft pick Domantas Sabonis.

As to other suitors, the line forms on the right.

Then there's the LeBron angle of KD going back home to play for his hometown Washington Wizards, but they don’t fancy their chances.

NBA free agency doesn't start until 12:01am on Fri 1 Jul, so dude still has a week’s worth of time before the circus begins.