Sources: Kevin Durant impressed in pitch meeting with Clippers
— -- Kevin Durant and the Los Angeles Clippers met for approximately four hours Friday night in the Hamptons, and sources close to the situation say Durant was "blown away" by the Clippers' presentation.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, president Doc Rivers, executive vice president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan were present at the meeting.
According to a source, Durant was incredibly impressed by the vision and direction of the Clippers and made a strong connection with those at the meeting.
Chris Paul did not make it to the meeting but spoke to Durant beforehand and made his pitch over the phone; the two have talked throughout the process, including last week, sources told ESPN.
Durant previously sat down with the incumbent Thunder on Thursday in Oklahoma City, with league sources saying that meeting "went well" and OKC was in a strong position to retain Durant's services.
A firm decision on where the four-time scoring champion will play next season, sources previously told ESPN, is expected "sooner rather than later" after he meets with all five teams that secured invitations to the Hamptons for weekend sit-downs.
Durant met with the Golden State Warriors earlier Friday, sources said, a pitch that was scheduled to include Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, coach Steve Kerr, general manager Bob Myers and owner Joe Lacob.
Sources said Durant will meet with the San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics on Saturday, and the Miami Heat on Sunday.
Multiple sources, including friends and business associates of Durant's, previously told The Undefeated's Marc Spears that, barring an unbelievable pitch from one of the teams trying to woo Durant, those close to him expect Durant to return to the Thunder next season.
"His decision is 90 percent made," a longtime friend told Spears.
Said another colleague: "It's going to take some sweet-talking to get him to pass up all the money he can get by staying in OKC."
ESPN's Arash Markazi, Ramona Shelburne and Marc Stein contributed to this report.
