During the summer of 2016, Kevin Durant sent shockwaves throughout the sports world when he signed with the Golden State Warriors, who had won an NBA record 73 games in the previous season.
As expected, Oklahoma City Thunder fans began burning their Durant jerseys, as they felt betrayed by KD.
OKC had a 3-1 series lead over the Warriors in the 2016 Western Conference Finals. However, the Dubs — behind Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson — came back to win the series in seven games.
Before he signed with the Warriors, Kevin Durant met with five teams in free agency. Let's take a look at the five clubs who thought were going to land the All-Star small forward.
1. Oklahoma City Thunder
Durant met with the Thunder first and OKC officials felt very confident he was going to re-sign with the franchise. The 2014 MVP also spoke with the team after he concluded all of his free-agent meetings.
Al Horford even followed Durant on Twitter, which led to speculation that the Thunder were going to create a Big Three of KD, Horford and Russell Westbrook.
Unfortunately, Durant spurned Westbrook and the Thunder for Curry and the Warriors. Even though Westbrook and KD are on good terms once more, Thunder fans will probably never like KD ever again.
2. Boston Celtics
Durant met with the Celtics for four hours. Boston even brought New England Patriots legend Tom Brady to help convince KD that Beantown is a great sports city.
In the end, though, KD decided not to sign with the Celtics. However, Boston was able to sign Horford, so at least they got someone.
3. Miami Heat
Durant met with the Heat, as every player in the NBA wants to live in Miami at some point. With that said, Pat Riley and Co. were confident about their chances of signing the former No. 2 overall pick.
The summer of 2016 is the same offseason when the Heat lost Dwyane Wade to the Chicago Bulls. Riley was hoping to soften the blow of losing Wade by signing Durant, but it didn't work out in the Hall of Famer's favor.
4. San Antonio Spurs
Durant's meeting with the Spurs lasted just two hours.
San Antonio could have had a Big Three of KD, Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge, with Gregg Popovich leading the charge from the sideline.
However, it never happened and the Spurs had to watch the Warriors run the Western Conference after their years of dominance.
5. Los Angeles Clippers
Durant was “blown away” by the Clippers' presentation, which lasted four hours. LAC was trying to create a Big Four of KD, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan.
The Clippers felt confident they were going to get Durant. However, the future Hall of Famer told the franchise he wasn't going to sign with them on July 2.
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