Game 7 could be Kevin Durant's last game with the Thunder
Kevin Durant has remained mum on his pending free agency all season, save to comment on how little he enjoys hearing everyone else's speculation.
But the 2014 NBA MVP is going to hit the open market this summer -- whether he likes it or not -- and as a hands-down, no-question-about-it Top-3 player, his decision will have as much impact on the league as LeBron James' move to Miami or his return to Cleveland.
For the first nine years of his career, Durant has played for one franchise (in two different cities), but Monday could well be his last game in an Oklahoma City Thunder uniform.
Under normal circumstances, the pending free agency of a megastar would be the main topic of conversation before a game like this, but these Western Conference Finals have been so engrossing, so rich with narrative, that Durant's looming decision has been relegated to subtopic status. After all, it's much more fun to talk about the Warriors -- the greatest regular-season team of all time -- going down 3-1 in spectacular fashion and then tying up the series behind Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry's late-game heroics.
Durant wants to win a title. He sees that his contemporaries at the top -- James and Curry -- have rings and he wants to join that club. He's taken Oklahoma City to the NBA Finals once before, but when OKC went up 3-1 on the 73-win Warriors, it marked Durant's best chance to win a title with the Thunder.
Should that opportunity go by the wayside via three straight losses, would Durant be forced to consider that Oklahoma City's title-contending window is closed?
It's not a ridiculous conclusion to reach -- the Thunder have been held together by string for years, and a Western Conference Finals clash could break some of those knots.
Since the team went to the NBA Finals in 2012, Oklahoma City has twice been ousted in the playoffs because of the team's inability to come through in the clutch. Monday could mark a third such occasion.
During that time, James Harden was traded away, despite his desire to stay in Oklahoma City, because the team's owner, Clay Bennett, wanted to avoid paying luxury tax, and coach Scott Brooks, who reportedly maintains a strong relationship with Durant, was fired as a scapegoat for the Thunder's late-game offensive issues.
Things were supposed to be different for the Thunder this season. They brought in Billy Donovan to fix the offense, and the roster was the best it had been since Harden left after the 2012 season, thanks to the team finally paying luxury tax.
For a while, it looked like the changes were working -- the Thunder's offense evolved and the role players around Durant and Westbrook were stepping up, only for the team to revert over the last two games. They head into Game 7 looking like they're back at square one.
If his team comes up one win short of the NBA Finals, will Durant go into free agency feeling like Oklahoma City is the best place for him to win that sought-after title?
Heading into this series, the belief around the NBA was that Durant was most likely going to sign a one-year deal with OKC this summer, which would put he and All-Star teammate Russell Westbrook on the free agent market at the same time.
But will the 2016-17 version of the Thunder be any better than this year's edition? It's hard to see how this squad would be upgraded. General manager Sam Presti has made some shrewd moves, sure, but he's done so without much financial support. Will he be able to do anything more than sign Durant and perhaps an off-the-bench role player this summer? If pending restricted free agent Dion Waiters gets a sizable offer sheet, would the Thunder even match it?
Those questions might seem ridiculous, but this past summer, it was uncertain if the Thunder were going to re-sign center Enes Kanter -- who Presti basically stole from the Jazz -- because his contract team would put the team in the luxury tax.
What sort of message did that send Durant?
Meanwhile, the Warriors have room to make a big move -- they could even fit Durant -- and the Spurs always find a way to get better in the offseason. The Clippers are going to be in the mix in the West again next year, and if the Blazers make an impact signing -- perhaps Al Horford enjoys fair trade coffee -- they could be considered part of the West's elite in 2016-17 as well.
Out East, the Celtics and Heat are going to make moves this summer too -- they're keen to stop LeBron James from going to a seventh straight Finals next year.
The massive jump in the salary cap will make this summer one of the most competitive in NBA history. Titles will be won by the moves that are made, and fortune has always favored the bold.
Will the Thunder do anything but try to stand pat?
Should the Thunder lose Monday, it wouldn't be outrageous for Durant to see spending the 2016-17 season in Oklahoma City as a wasted year, a prolonging of the inevitable. Another year of having to put up with the free agent rumors and speculation he seems to abhor so much.
Instead of going through all that to come up short yet again, he could be somewhere else, contending for a title or setting up for a big 2017-18 season.
Ultimately, we won't know what Durant will do until he actually does it. That camp has proven to be leak-free. But the brunt of that tectonic decision could ride on the outcome of Monday night's game. Win and all this speculation goes away -- why wouldn't he stay in Oklahoma City? -- lose and everything -- including one of the most gifted scorers in NBA history -- could be up for grabs.
