Thunder Will Have Last Word With Durant, Decision Tonight Or Monday

By Randy Renner, Senior Writer

After some confusion last night when ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported his sources had told him no second meeting with the Thunder had been set, TNT’s David Aldridge reported the Thunder will indeed have the last word with Kevin Durant this afternoon in The Hamptons.

This morning the Miami Heat spent about two hours meeting with Durant and there were no dramatics from what we’ve heard so far. Dan Marino didn’t drop by and neither did Flipper. Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh weren’t there either and may not even be on the Heat roster next season.

Pat Riley brought his rings but with a roster in flux not sure what he might have been able to promise KD. Durant already knows how cool (or not) it can be to live in Miami, at least part-time. He used to own a penthouse condo atop a South Beach high rise but has since sold it.

You wouldn’t expect the Thunder to bring in anyone other than Sam Presti, Clay Bennett and others directly involved with the organization. A visit from Victor Oladipo might be nice and a drop in from Russell Westbrook with a commitment to re-sign next season if KD will re-up long term now would be even nicer.

The Thunder are still believed to be the favorite though Boston’s deal with Al Horford could complicate things, especially since Durant and his agent Rich Kleiman had been trying to recruit Horford to join KD in OKC.

Durant has indicated to all the teams still in the running (the Clippers have already dropped out and are trying to sign their own free agents) that he plans to make his decision either late tonight or Monday.

From now until then the waiting game won’t be easy for anyone.

Summer League

Remember the Thunder summer league team plays today at 4 o’clock Oklahoma time in Orlando. Former OU star Ryan Spangler didn’t see any action in yesterday’s 86-85 win over Dallas so he will likely play today.

You can see the game on NBA-TV and streaming on ESPN3.