All the interest that comes with the NBA’s trade deadline, which arrives Thursday afternoon, means nothing new for Kevin Durant. After all, the Oklahoma City Thunder forward is in the final year of his contract, and he has been dealing all season with questions about possibly moving to a new team.  [Latest on the NBA trade deadline: 76ers reportedly ‘gauging interest’ in Jahlil Okafor]  Wednesday found Durant in a lighthearted mood about the situation. Corralled by reporters at a Thunder practice, he joked that General Manager Sam Presti had told Durant that he was “looking to move” the 2014 MVP.  Durant was then asked if he would, in fact, like to see Presti make some sort of move before the deadline hits. “That’s out of my control,” the seven-time all-star said (via ESPN’s Royce Young), “I trust Sam 100 percent.  “Whatever he does, I know it’s for the betterment of the organization and the team. So whatever he chooses to do, I’m happy with it and I’m going to support it,” Durant continued. “I’m not one of those guys that needs so much or wants to know every single move. It’s part of the game and I’ve got to roll with the punches and whatever happens, happens and I’ve got to be a leader no matter what.”  An argument could be made that, if the Thunder felt that Durant was a lock to depart in the summer, it should see what it could get for him right now, although a sign-and-trade after the season likely makes more sense. However, the team surely wants to try and keep its core of Durant and guard Russell Westbrook, who can be a free agent in 2017, especially given that, at 40-14, it’s one of the few squads with a legitimate hope of dethroning the Golden State Warriors for the NBA crown.  Speaking of those Warriors, though, they may represent the Thunder’s biggest reason for pessimism that Durant will wind up staying put. Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical recently wrote that the defending NBA champions are “the significant [his italics] frontrunners to sign” Durant if he decides to leave Oklahoma City.  [Could Kevin Durant join Steph Curry on the Warriors?]  On Tuesday, a day before Durant cracked wise about getting shipped out of OKC, Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News kept the Warriors speculation very much alive. Kawakami outlined the same scenario, terrifying to the rest of the NBA, that Wojnarowski did: Golden State could clear enough cap space to sign Durant while still keeping its all-star trio of Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.  Claiming that “the Warriors front office seems determined to try for Durant,” Kawakami wrote that the team “would have to be willing to part with Harrison Barnes, Andre Iguodala and either Andrew Bogut or Festus Ezeli.” That would represent a major shake-up of a squad that has followed up a championship with an eye-popping 48-4 start this season, but there are compelling reasons to do it.  Those reasons begin, of course, with Durant’s massive talent, but there’s also the fact that he’s still just 27, compared to Iguodala (31) and Bogut (32). Barnes, just 24 and hinting at potential greatness to come, is the wild card, but anyone would trade him for Durant, and Kawakami noted that Barnes’s own price tag is set to skyrocket soon enough.  Another factor is the window at which Golden State is currently looking, given that Curry’s deal is wildly affordable but expires in 2017. Once the team does the universally expected thing and re-signs the 2015 MVP to a maximum contract extension, it won’t have the flexibility to add a free agent on the level of Durant.  “If you have $18 million in space this July that you will never have again, why not aim for a Curry-Durant partnership?” Kawakami wrote.  Aggressive mgmt thinks like this: Do you want to pay Barnes $22M per + Iguodala/Bogut into their mid-30s… or Durant $27M per in his prime?  — Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) February 17, 2016  The smartest people keep innovating, moving forward, chasing something. It can be risky, but you don't stay in place for long.  — Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) February 17, 2016  Many NBA observers feel that Durant’s most likely move is to re-sign with the Thunder for two years with a one-year option. That would let him enter free agency again in 2017, when Westbrook’s contract is also up and when Durant can potentially sign a much more lucrative deal.  [Kevin Durant’s impending free agency might be a much bigger topic next year]  In that scenario, all of Golden State’s alleged interest in Durant would probably be moot. However, the forward has reasons to have his own interest in joining Curry and the Thunder, much as LeBron James joined Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in defecting from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat in 2010.  Just as James was frustrated, six years ago, in not having an NBA title to match his individual brilliance, Durant could feel similarly, given that he has just one unsuccessful trip to the NBA Finals to show for his eight-plus seasons in the league. If Durant watches the Warriors win it all again this year, he might decide that if he can’t beat them, he may as well join them.  In the meantime, and all jokes aside, Durant is almost certainly not going anywhere. But neither is speculation about where he will eventually wind up.  Des writes for the Early Lead and the D.C. Sports Bog, scouring the Web to bring readers items of interest, both serious and amusing. He also covers fantasy football, as well as fitness topics for the MisFits.
If the all-star forward winds up with Golden State, no one in Oklahoma City -- or anywhere else in the NBA -- will be laughing.