1.
First things first: We don't think there's any way—ANY WAY—the Thunder are ever going to entertain the idea of trading Kevin Durant away next season. KD's foot could fall off, and the 76ers could offer them all 37 of the first-round picks that they've got stockpiled away in exchange for him and OKC general manager Sam Presti would still be like:
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But Russell Westbrook has been so good over the course of the last month—he averaged 31.2 points, 10.3 assists, and 9.1 rebounds per game in February and has been just as good in March—that at least one person thinks the Thunder could be willing to part ways with KD next year before he becomes a free agent. That person, er, crazy person is Tom Penn, the former Trail Blazers vice president of basketball operations. He currently works for ESPN as an analyst and, earlier today, he talked about why Presti might be willing to deal KD, if he gets the right offer for him.
"I think this burst from Westbrook makes it likelier, much more likely, that Durant ultimately gets traded next year," he told Colin Cowherd this morning. "Sam Presti has proven that he does not ever want to lose anybody for nothing. He traded James Harden a year early to avoid a potential luxury tax problem a year later."
In theory, what Penn says make sense. If the Thunder get the feeling that KD is 100 percent going to leave OKC for, say, the Wizards when he becomes a free agent in the summer of 2016, then maybe they'd consider trading him. But c'mon. Westbrook could be averaging 50 points, 25 rebounds, and 15 assists per game right now and trading KD—or even thinking about trading KD—would still be dumb. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
If you want to hear Penn try and explain himself, though, check out the clip above.
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[via The Big Lead]
