One NBA agent believes that the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat are the only two teams capable of convincing Kevin Durant to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Erik Horne of the Oklahoman spoke to anonymous NBA agents who gave their take on Durant’s situation. One agent said that it would require a good enough team and a superior market to tempt Durant away, and only two suitors can offer that.
“[It] needs to be a good team, in a better market with a better chance to win than OKC,” the agent said. “So Golden State and Miami become the only real players. It’s too hard to justify a move to Los Angeles (Lakers) or New York because they are not close to winning. Houston’s out.”
The agents in general believe Durant already has an idea of his plans, and that the series of visits he is setting up are not going to be impactful.
“He is more anticipating seeing the pitches from other teams just because he wants to,” one agent said.
Another agent went as far as to call the meetings “bull.”
“He knows his plan before this process happens,” the agent said. “It’s more formality than anything else.”
Bear in mind that these are all agents who have agendas of their own, even speaking anonymously. Still, they kind of back up the prevailing thinking that Durant’s most likely solution will be to stay in Oklahoma City. The Warriors are among Durant’s first wave of meetings, but if the speculation is true, Durant already has a good idea of what he wants.
