Anybody can be the victim of a trade rumor.
First, someone of even tenuous authority brings up the possibility of a trade. Next, fans start gossiping about who could possibly be included in such a trade. Then, the final step: ESPN goes overboard with rumors and opens the floodgates for the entirety of the internet to freak out.
In Kevin Durant's case, this whole thing began with Tom Penn, the former Trail Blazers vice president of basketball operations. Mr. Penn made a brief mention on ESPN yesterday that Sam Presti—the current General Manager of the Thunder—might be more likely to trade the current MVP because of Russell Westbrook's recent play. The Internet had a field day, and since the moment those words exited Tom Penn's mouth hot takes have been dropping like hot cakes. Will KD be shipped back to his native DMV? Will OKC hold onto him next season and just pray he resigns? Will Westbrook get moved to keep Kevin happy??
Nobody knows, yet everybody has an opinion.
So to clear up some of the arguments, to add some mathematical validity to a few of the possible trades being thrown around, we've decided to revisit one of our favorite series to bring you 15 ESPN Trade Machine-Approved Deals for Kevin Durant. This offseason could get weird.