Kevin Durant had his exit interview with the media Wednesday. You can see the highlights of that above.
In it, Durant:
• Says he’s still in Game 7 mode, not free agency mode.
• Praises first-year Thunder coach Billy Donovan.
• He expresses his pride in Oklahoma City the franchise and the city, calling it home.
• And, of course, he talks free agency priorities, “If I’m enjoying playing basketball, that’s the thing I really want to center everything around.”
Since apparently nobody can get enough “What is Kevin Durant thinking about free agency?” here are longer quotes from his exit interview on the topic:It’s kind of hard to talk to one of my teammates. Obviously, we’ve been through a lot. We know each other very, very well. But it’s one of these things where I just, I’ve just got to hear from me and hear what I want and talk to myself on what I need and how I can make this thing work for myself and just try to be selfish a bit.
Obviously, I want to ask for advice. But also, I want to make the decision that’s best for me. I’m sure at some point, me and Russell will sit down and talk.
But he’s put no pressure on me. He’s been just great in this whole thing and just being my friend, and I think that’s one thing I needed throughout the whole year, throughout this whole process, is just people to be my friend and worry about me as a person.
Twenty-nine teams would love a chance to pitch Durant on why he should leave OKC and play for them instead, but this entire process starts with one very simple question:
Is Durant even going to listen to them?
Or is he just going to re-sign with Oklahoma City? Unless he opens the door most of this discussion is moot.
And if he does stay put — which is what the buzz around the league is will happen — then the question becomes does he sign a two-year deal with an opt-out next summer (the most likely option) or does he take the five-year deal?
