Happy Birthday KD: Now He's Both Legal and Lethal

Today, the first day of Training camp is also the day that our superstar, Kevin Durant, turns 21 and anyone in OKC should buy that man a beer or drink of his choice tonight, but not too many because he does have two-a-days again tomorrow.  As we get back into the basketball swing and hopefully a pick up in content here as well i want to talk about a topic that we have discussed before and it is not one that concerns this season at all, but July 1, 2010.  That would be the first day that we can lock up our superstar for an additional five years much like the Portland Trailblazers were able to do this offseason with their star, Brandon Roy.

During this off-season we debated in these quarters the pro's and con's of making certain roster moves in terms of free agency and trades in terms of helping our team this year, but also in the future.  I personally believe that Presti made the right moves in not taking on anything long term or anything that would fundamentally alter the core of this team and part of the credit for that must go to the patience our ownership has shown in allowing Presti to execute his plan.  The centerpiece of that plan is as simple as it can get and that is just finding a way to keep KD in OKC for as long as possible.

There are numerous teams in the league who have built young cores with solid bases, but other than possibly Portland I do not think there is one that is more talented and in our case we are in the best financial condition to keep the core we are building together for the long term, which I believe is the most important factor in keeping Kevin here.  The thing I have noticed from a distance obviously about Kevin is the closeness of the relationships he has built with his teammates, most especially Jeff Green and then Russ and now Harden.  I think that those bonds and that continuity along with obviously the fan support that the community has given is what is the key selling point for us in keeping Kevin in a Thunder uniform and signing that 5 year extension next summer.  Also in speaking of the bonds and the job that Presti has done with the team one must acknowledge what Kevin himself has acknowledged about his own bond with Sam Presti himself, which when you add it all up leads me to be very confident in the fact that by the time training camp opens next year we wont be talking about if this is going to be KD's last year in OKC, but how we are going to have the privilege of watching this superstar in his prime for the following 6 years.

So, KD have a drink for me and know that it is all of us who raise our glasses in thanks for the honor of having such a talented superstar but even more a quality individual who leads his unit as the centerpiece of this franchise.  Cheers to 21 and all the future ones to come!!