NBA Rumors: Kevin Durant Discusses How Likely He Is To Play For Warriors Next Season, Per ‘The Athletic’

With the regular season still underway, NBA rumors about Kevin Durant’s future with the Golden State Warriors have been answered, according to The Athletic. Durant is currently enjoying another All-Star season with his second team and seems to have left the bitter exit he made from Oklahoma City in the past.

However, recent questions were directed toward the Warriors star about potentially leaving for a new team next season, and Durant gave his thoughts about it all. Some of those thoughts may even leave the door open for a new team, despite the humor attached to his comments.

As reported by The Athletic, Kevin Durant was asked if he was “100 percent sure” he would return to play for the Golden State Warriors next season. Durant was right in line with that percentage and responded with a simple “Yeah.” His team is currently among the best in the Western Conference and the league as a whole. They’re clearly still the team to beat, even if Houston seems to have made some major improvements in their chances to capture a title. That’s where Durant’s focus lies at the moment, rather than worrying about the possibilities of a different team in another season.

He gave a similar response as superstar LeBron James gave when asked about possibly joining a new team next season.

“I’m not even thinking about that. I’m here. I’m here. I ain’t even thought about it.”

Durant also had some fun with it and joked about his previous decision to leave the Thunder for the Warriors.

“Well, actually, I want to wait to see who wins the championship and whoever wins that, that’s who I’m going to sign with.”

Chris Biderman, who writes for USA Today‘s Warriors Wire, indicated that the Warriors can offer Kevin Durant a “four-year deal worth 35 percent of the salary cap annually.” The NBA All-Star exercised an opt-out clause last summer, effectively taking less money so his team could keep free agents Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston on the roster. Most likely, he’ll get a decent deal from the team to stay on board, and winning titles seemed to be his original reason for joining them.

The man who is known as “Durantula” and the “Slim Reaper” is currently averaging 26 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game. Those numbers, with the exception of assists, are down slightly from his career averages. Still, those numbers are helping the Golden State Warriors move toward another championship. Durant is listed third right now on NBA.com‘s NBA MVP rankings for the ongoing race toward the annual award. Only LeBron James and James Harden are considered more valuable to their teams right now.

It would be a major surprise if Kevin Durant decided to leave the Golden State Warriors for a different team. However, fans were certainly shocked once before when he decided to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder for the team that defeated them in the playoffs. Durant’s seemingly innocent joke may very well have left the door open for that sort of move, should his Warriors end up failing to win the NBA title this coming postseason.