Kevin Durant Leaving OKC to Sign With Warriors

After years of speculation, Kevin Durant is officially leaving Oklahoma City as a free agent and will sign with the Golden State Warriors. 

The news comes as a bit of a shocker, seeing Durant could've made more money if he would've stayed with the Thunder for at least one season, but clearly Durant saw greener pastures in Northern California. 

Durant was the most sought-after free agent since LeBron James in 2014, and also took meetings with the San Antonio Spurs, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers. 

Oklahoma City will have a very different roster next season, seeing the Thunder also traded cornerstone Serge Ibaka to the Magic for Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova and Domantas Sabonis. With all the extra cap space left now that Durant is leaving, the Thunder will likely make a move to bolster the roster moving forward. 

Thunder Chairman Clayton I. Bennett released the following statement,

“Kevin's contributions to our organization during his nine years were profound, on and off the court. He helped the Thunder grow and succeed in immeasurable ways and impacted the community just the same. We thank him for his leadership, his play, and how he represented Oklahoma City and the entire state of Oklahoma.”

Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti released the following statement,

“Kevin made an indelible mark on the Thunder organization and the state of Oklahoma as a founding father of this franchise. We can't adequately articulate what he meant to the foundation of this franchise and our success. While clearly disappointing that he has chosen to move on, the core values that he helped establish only lead to us thanking him for the many tangible and intangible ways that he helped our program.”