Is Oklahoma City in the Cards? Examining Potential Landing Spots for Kevin Durant

There have been no indications that Kevin Durant is unhappy with the Phoenix Suns, even amid the team’s up-and-down season that has the Suns currently in seventh place in the Western Conference, in line to play in the NBA Play-In Tournament for the NBA Playoffs.

But that hasn’t stopped a columnist from suggesting the NBA superstar’s next team.

The suggestion? Kevin Durant should make his first team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, his last team.

The Phoenix Suns face the Thunder on Friday night in Oklahoma City.

In his column, The Oklahoman’s Joe Mussatto wrote that Durant ending his career with the Thunder would be a storybook ending to his career.

“Time heals all wounds,” Mussatto wrote. “It makes you wonder. Is there a world in which Durant plays for the Thunder again? Aside from leading his hometown Wizards to the promised land, it’s the only outcome that could tie the frayed strings of Durant’s career into a neat bow.”

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Isn’t it a little too early to start speculating about Durant’s next team?

The Suns star, 35, is under contract in Phoenix through the 2025-26 season before becoming an NBA free agent for the 2026-27 season.

The Suns would certainly have a chance to re-sign Durant, but Mussatto speculated that Durant has probably thought about a reunion with the Thunder and Oklahoma City, where he spent eight seasons after the team moved from Seattle after his rookie season.

Mussatto wrote: “Phoenix seemed like a great basketball fit for Durant, but the vibes have been amiss and the injuries aplenty among him, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. The Suns are fighting to stay out of the play-in.  A first-round Thunder-Suns playoff matchup is certainly possible. Maybe that would reopen a wound, or maybe a Thunder win would be cathartic revenge for OKC fans who still resent Durant, whose No. 35 jersey will hang in the rafters of the Thunder’s new arena one day. Would I bet on Kevin Durant playing for the Thunder again? No. But who among us hasn’t considered the possibility? I bet Durant has. The Book of Kevin could use a fairytale ending. A Final Chapter in Oklahoma City.”

A columnist in Oklahoma City speculated about Kevin Durant's next team after the Suns.

The headline for Mussatto’s column? “Kevin Durant returning to OKC Thunder would be fairytale ending.”

Suns fans probably have a much different “fairytale ending” in their minds for Durant.

One that involves the superstar hoisting an NBA Championship Trophy in Phoenix for the team that he currently plays on.