Kevin Durant Rumors: What Could Thunder Get For Durant?

The Oklahoma City Thunder are once again expected to be contenders to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals, but everything depends on the health of superstar forward Kevin Durant. He is dealing with a Jones fracture, which is a fracture of the diaphysis of the fifth metatarsal of the foot at the base of the small toe. Durant is expected to return this season and come back just fine from this injury.

Durant is coming off of his first MVP season, and has continued to improve his game each year of his career. Assuming he does come back from the injury at the same level, there are many more MVP trophies in his future for him to take.

Rumors have begun swirling about Durant walking away from the Thunder next offseason to sign with his hometown Washington Wizards due to a tweet that may or may not have been meant as a sign of the future.

Needless to say, that type of tweet leads to rumors and rumors lead to speculation. The Thunder are still confident that Durant will be the face of their franchise for many years to come, but we simply have to take a look at what they could get in return from the Washington Wizards if they chose to trade him rather than risk letting him sign with them and get nothing in return in free agency.

Washington has a ton of young talent on the roster, and they have the necessary pieces to make a blockbuster deal for Durant. It’s always going to be difficult to come up with a trade that is fair for a superstar like Durant, but there is one deal in particular that would make sense for both teams if the Thunder decided that they had to trade Durant.

Bradley Beal, Marcin Gortat, Martell Webster, Andre Miller, Otto Porter Jr., and at least two first round pick would be headed to the Thunder in exchange for Kevin Durant and Kendrick Perkins. This deal wouldn’t be able to take place until at least January 15th due to the contract that Gortat signed this past offseason, but there are enough pieces there to make both teams fairly happy with the deal. Obviously the Thunder would have to clear some roster space, but they would be getting a very nice deal back in return.

Oklahoma City would be getting a future star wing player back to help replace Durant in Beal, and they would also be unloading Perkins int he deal. Gortat would be an immediate upgrade at the center position, and adding two veterans in Andre Miller and Martell Webster would add to the depth off of the bench as well. Adding Porter into the deal would simply be another role player with a lot of talent to add to the Thunder’s roster.

Beal is the player in this deal that would make the Thunder pull the trigger. He has the potential to become one of the best scorers in the league, and the ability to become a two-way star. At just 21 years of age, he is already one of the better offensive threats in the Eastern Conference. Porter is also a young talent that has shown the ability to score, and the two first-round picks could turn into good players as well.

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It would be tough for the Wizards to part ways with all of that talent, but bringing Durant on board and keeping point guard John Wall would make it worth it for them. They would have to make some moves to upgrade the center position, but would have enough pieces to compete in the Eastern Conference this season.

A deal like this would only happen if the Thunder decided that they would lose Durant and had to make a trade to get something in return. Washington would be interested in talking about a trade for Durant, and this is a very steep price for them. It would be tough to pull the trigger, but acquiring a player like Durant would be impossible to turn down if he signed a long-term deal to stay in Washington.

All of that being said, it’s very possible that the media has blown things way out of proportion and Durant still wants to remain with the Thunder long-term. He has thoroughly enjoyed playing in Oklahoma City and the fans love him there.

While that is always a possibility, there is the chance that Durant fully intends to return home. The Wizards do have the pieces to make a deal if the Thunder come calling.