Fans of the Oklahoma City Thunder who enjoy betting on basketball at SBG Global sportsbook are hoping that the team’s 2016-17 season will be just like Darkman II and features the Return of Durant. Only in this case it will not be ruthless, sadistic mob boss Robert G. Durant but All Star small forward Kevin Durant.
Along with Russell Westbrook, the Thunder has the most dominant duo in the league – though LeBron James and Kyrie Irving might take offense to that (while Kevin Love hides inside a locker so he doesn’t get traded). Steph Curry and Klay Thompson might take offense too, but then they would have lost all touch with reality.
Durant and Westbrook are young, quick, big, and athletic, and had a combined average of 51.7 points, 16.0 rebounds and 15.4 assists per game. The only problem is that while the latter is still under contract, the former is an unrestricted free agent. Durant has said that his free agency is a “basketball decision.” Thank you very much for the clarification, Captain Obvious.
According to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, Durant plans to meet prospective teams in LA when free agency kicks in July. Among those teams are the San Antonio Spurs, the Boston Celtics, the Washington Wizards, the New York Knicks, and the Houston Rockets – though Durant has reportedly discarded the Rockets.
The good news for fans of the Thunder who like betting on basketball at SBG Global sportsbook is that Durant’s preference is to stay in Oklahoma, Isola says – most likely signing a two-year deal including a player option to return to free agency in the summer of 2017.
The bad news is that his second choice, should negotiations with the Thunder fall through, would be none other than the Golden State Warriors. ESPN Senior Writer Marc Stein reports that Durant’s will Golden State’s top target during the offseason marketplace. “All I can say is that I will be very aggressive,” Warriors owner Joe Lacob has said, though not mentioning Durant by name.
Randy Foye, Dion Waiters, Nazr Mohammed are the rest of Oklahoma’s unrestricted free agents. On the other hand, Anthony Morrow, Cameron Payne, Andre Roberson, Nick Collison, Josh Huestis, Serge Ibaka, Mitch McGary, Kyle Singler, Steven Adams, and Enes Kanter remain under contract.
In addition to retaining Durant, the Thunder needs a second wing that can shoot and defend at the highest level of competition. The starters were great on defense last season, but reserves like Waiters and Kanter just couldn’t keep up. If the Thunder takes care of that, they will have even better betting on basketball odds to win the title next season.