Warriors superstar Kevin Durant sustained a torn right Achilles during Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors.
On Monday, Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report wrote the following:
The indication from several league sources is that Durant is not happy with the team, and the presumption is that it stems from whatever role Warriors officials played in his decision to suit up.
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Coach Steve Kerr says he was told Durant could not further injure himself by playing, which obviously proved not to be true. If Durant was told the same, it would give credence to the notion that, as one league executive claims, "He's really pissed off at the Warriors."
On Tuesday, ESPN's Zach Lowe asked ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski if there has been a breakdown in trust between KD and the Warriors.
"If there were a breakdown in trust, you would imagine that Kevin Durant's camp and the Warriors would not be in communication. And they have been in communication," Woj said. "They have talked.
"Their ability to be able to talk through whatever potential issues there are in trying to go forward, I think those lines of communication are open. Does he stay? I think that conversation has yet to really happen between Durant, Rich Kleiman, Bob Myers and the organization.
Golden State Warriors
"I do think there's gonna be a point here where they do talk before free agency starts. But there's no indication that they have been shunned by KD. I don't believe that's the case."
The Warriors are the only team that can offer the two-time NBA Finals MVP a five-year contract in free agency that would pay him about $221 million.
Every other franchise can offer him a maximum amount of about $164 million over four seasons.
Woj believes KD's injury gives the Dubs a better chance of retaining the 10-time All-Star:
"It's changed the narrative for Kevin Durant in Golden State. It goes from a player who didn't get credit for jumping onboard of a 73-win team; the narrative that he wasn't crucial to winning there.
"Well, you saw that he was. And now this becomes something that's never been there -- an underdog story, a comeback story. By the time Kevin Durant would play again in the NBA, two teams would have won championships that aren't the Warriors.
"Now, they're a team people are rooting for. Now, Kevin Durant is the builder in Golden State. And the adulation that I think maybe wasn't there for him in Golden State, it's going to be there. He's a beloved figure there for what he came back and did -- the injury that he sustained when he took great risk to play for that team.
"He's not going on the road anywhere in the NBA again where they are holding up cupcake signs and cupcake t-shirts. Noone's ever calling Kevin Durant a cupcake again. That does change the narrative and the story for KD in Golden State.
"Now, is that enough to get him to stay there? We don't know that yet. But they have a better case to make post injury than they did pre injury."
[RELATED: Why Iguodala believes KD, Klay will re-sign with Warriors]
Free agency opens on Sunday at 3 p.m. PT, so we might be less than a week away from finally getting answers about Durant's future.