NBA Rumors: Warriors Have Known Kevin Durant Might Leave All Season

The Golden State Warriors are in hot pursuit of their third consecutive NBA championship, but the question of whether All-Star forward Kevin Durant will leave in free agency this summer is unavoidable. 

"The players and coaches have known all season that Kevin may leave," ESPN's Nick Friedell said on the network's daily basketball show The Jump on Friday. "They may win another title. He may be the Finals MVP for the third straight year, and he may leave. They came to grips with it long ago."

Durant arrived in Golden State as a free agent in 2016, famously announcing his decision through The Players' Tribune. The 2013-14 league MVP has undoubtedly been a crucial piece in the Warriors' two titles since as he was named Finals MVP in both. 

Most recently, Durant scored a game-high 38 points in Golden State's 132-105 Game 3 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night.

Away from the court, while appearing on the Posted Up with Chris Haynes podcast on Dec. 24, the 30-year-old has addressed his looming free agency.

"I just want to make sure I get as much money as I can on my next deal so I can stack up my money and figure it out," Durant told Yahoo Sports' Chris B. Haynes. "That's just the plan. Play basketball and stack money."

In the months following, rumors and reports that Durant is set to join the New York Knicks have run rampant: 

"Rival executives will tell you, without hesitation, that Durant is bound for the Knicks," Bleacher Report's Howard Beck wrote on April 3, "that [Boston Celtics point guard Kyrie] Irving is likely to join him; that [Kawhi] Leonard likes the Clippers; that Butler might choose the Lakers—unless he chooses the Nets."

"Of course, they all might stay put. (Well except for Durant. Virtually everyone believes he's leaving the Warriors.)" 

Given money is Durant's main motivator this time around, New York makes sense. When the Knicks dealt former No. 3 overall selection Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 31, they opened up salary room to pursue, in theory, two max players this summer. 

Durant left Oklahoma City to join the Warriors because he wanted to reach the NBA mountaintop, which he already has and may do so to historic proportions if Golden State pulls off the three-peat this season. The 10-time All-Star's basketball legacy was forever changed by his decision in 2016.

Now, he seems to be looking out for himself and his personal legacy. And who can blame him?