Former Blazers VP Tom Penn Says Sam Presti Could Very Well Trade Kevin Durant Next Year
Kevin Durant’s 2016 free agency campaign earned early traction with popular speculation pointing to Durant possibly looking to return home and play for the Washington Wizards.
The recent historical surge of Russell Westbrook brings back into question the tenure of Durant and Westbrook as a duo. Oklahoma City’s roster has been vamped since last month’s trade deadline, but it’s Westbrook’s triple-double streak, tenacity, and overall leadership that has the Thunder looking a lot like his team (granted Kevin Durant hasn’t been on the floor much as of late).
In the latest bombshell of speculation, former Portland Trail Blazers VP of Basketball Operations Tom Penn made an appearance on The Herd on Monday and had this to say in regards to the Westbrook/Durant dichotomy:
I think this burst from Westbrook makes it likelier – much more likely – that Durant ultimately gets traded next year. [Colin Cowherd explodes.]
The Kevin Durant drumbeat next year is going to be so loud … he will not commit early to OKC because the rules are against that.
If Sam Presti doesn’t that get that commitment, he’ll look to trade Kevin Durant. Looking at the performance of Westbrook and the team around Westbrook will make it easier for him to do that, potentially.
For physical evidence of Penn’s prediction, watch the clip below:
Penn compares the nature of possibly trading Durant to Sam Presti opting to trade James Harden in order to avoid a potential luxury tax
problem the following year. In Durant’s case, the bigger problem would be free agency and the potential that he would sign elsewhere, leaving Oklahoma City with nothing in return.
We’ve seen this scenario played out in different ways. The future of this Thunder team, more importantly the Durant/Westbrook duo, is still fated on what may or may not be accomplished this season (or even next season, for that matter). The current meteoric rise of Russell Westbrook does deservingly make this even more of a pressing topic. There would probably have to be a series of consequential dominos to fall for Presti to truly consider trading Kevin Durant next season, but Tom Penn isn’t putting it past him.
