OAKLAND — Kevin Durant spent the weeks following the 2009 season scouting draft prospects. This was a monster moment for his young Thunder. The two Junes prior, Sam Presti nailed his top picks, selecting Durant second in 2007 and Russell Westbrook fourth in 2008. Hit on one more — right before the flood of lottery chances would stop — and this thing could really take off.
The Thunder picked third. Blake Griffin, the consensus top choice, was off the table. But there remained debate around the Grizzlies at two: Hasheem Thabeet or James Harden?
“Hasheem was a really good player coming out of college, but I wanted Harden,” Durant said.