The mission in Oklahoma City now is to surround Russell Westbrook with as much talent as possible.

That means going after big-name free agents next summer. A name that has already been mentioned as a potential target: Los Angeles Clippers power forward Blake Griffin.

From Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical:

Durant is deleted. Done and gone and no longer part of his world. “What's next?” he asked – and the Thunder connected with Westbrook on a plan to construct their next act. Once, it was James Harden and Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Now, it's a superstar solo act – with an eye upon Los Angeles Clippers All-Star forward Blake Griffin in 2017 free agency. Griffin is an Oklahoma kid gone Hollywood, a star who has his own tensions with Chris Paul on the Clippers.

Griffin sounds like a natural fit being that he's from Oklahoma City. Although, he's never expressed publicly a desire to return home to play for the Thunder. That might be because the idea was never plausible until now with Kevin Durant leaving.

A Westbrook-Griffin duo would give the Thunder arguably the most athletic one-two punch in the NBA. The Thunder could very well get into position to attract another max-caliber player if they have a good season.

The Thunder do need to make a choice before next season if they want to ensure they have cap space for a player like Griffin. If the Thunder choose to extend either Victor Oladipo, Steven Adams, or Andre Roberson by Oct. 31, it will increase those players' cap holds next summer, making it very difficult for the Thunder to create the cap space necessary for a player like Griffin.

If those players aren't extended, it will become clear what the Thunder's plans are next summer. Griffin may be just that.