Kevin Durant Indicates he Would Love to Retire with Rockets

Kevin Durant is easily one of the game's greatest players. Full stop.

Even if you think he's sensitive or trades barbs with trolls on social media too often (which he does -- he's a troll himself), there's not a basketball debate against him going down in history as one of the game's all-time greats.

Even if you think he's a team-hopper who "runs from the grind" or aborts the mission when things don't go his way, again, there's no justifiable basketball argument.

He's won titles, scoring titles, MVPs, Finals MVPs, literally everything and anything under the sun.

The man ranks eighth all-time in scoring.

Yet he doesn't quite have a basketball home, because he's now played for so many different franchises.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, Brooklyn Nets, Phoenix Suns and now the Rockets.

Again, he doesn't quite have a home. Which begs the question of which teams will retire his jersey.

It seems likely that it'll be the Warriors and Thunder. He first burst onto the scene with the Thunder and even carried them to the NBA Finals, although they were unable to stave off defeat against the LeBron James-led Miami Heat in 2012.

He helped the Warriors win two championships, after they, too, fell short against James once more in 2016, albeit with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

However, his stints with the Suns and Nets weren't nearly as eventful. Not even close.

In fact, the Nets were eliminated in the first round in Durant's last full season there. Swept, at that.

The Suns didn't even make the play-in in Durant's last full season there. Even worse.

As Durant embarks on his tenure with the Rockets, he's saying all of the right things. He first said that he expects to sign a multi-year contract extension.

Most recently, he added that he intends to retire with the Rockets, in an interview with Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.

“I’m looking to be here as long as I can, play my last years of my career,” says Durant. “That’s the intent. I know, I said that about Phoenix, too, but that’s the intent. I would love to do that. I mean, I’m 37 years old and I’m going on 19 years in the league. I want to be solidified in a spot and build with a team with a group of guys that’s going to be around for a while. So hopefully this is it.”

That is surely music to Stone and Udoka's ears, as they sacrificed an up-and-coming, emerging player in Green for Durant, who is under contract for just one more season and is in the last few years of his career.