Billy Donovan had to have been massively confused. Superstar players in the prime of their careers simply don’t leave the only franchise they’ve ever known via free agency.
Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James are probably the only exceptions besides Kevin Durant, who decided to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder and sign with the Golden State Warriors.
Of course, the added detail of the Warriors winning an NBA record 73 games last season makes the transaction even more unbelievable, and it clearly took Donovan by surprise.
In a podcast with The Vertical, Donovan didn’t definitively say that he thought Durant was going to return, but that Oklahoma City was sitting in a very favorable position.