ESPN's Summer Forecast series continues with perhaps the biggest question of the next calendar year: Which NBA city will be blessed with the talents of Kevin Durant in 2016-17?
As I explained in my first look at the 2016 Free-Agent Big Board, the class is top-heavy and very thin beyond the top seven or so spots. At the same time, with the cap explosion set to take place, the league will have an unprecedented number of teams with the flexibility to add at least one max-priced talent. When you add up these three factors -- Durant's excellence, prevalence of cap flexibility and lack of alternatives on the market -- the competition for his services will be ferocious.
But just because there are a lot of teams willing and able to extend offers doesn't necessarily mean there will be a lot of teams with a realistic shot at pulling off the franchise-altering move of adding the 2014 MVP in the prime of his career. Durant's price tag is established.
A max deal for a player with his experience would have a starting salary of roughly $25.4 million, based on a $90 million salary cap, but money won't be the sole determinant in his decision -- and arguably won't be the biggest, either. Here's an early look at the teams that could be on Durant's short list.
