A Kevin Durant-Warriors reunion? It’s unlikely, but team’s stars wouldn’t oppose

This Independence Day will be the sixth anniversary of Kevin Durant’s league-altering decision to join the Warriors. Could this July also feature his return?

ESPN Andscape’s Marc Spears first mentioned the Warriors’ potential interest. The Warriors could undoubtedly put together one of the best packages for a Durant trade. And for a front office known for unearthing every stone, they’d have to vet the chance to add Durant.

With that said, according to multiple sources in the Warriors organization, a reunion is highly unlikely. Nothing about the last three years suggests the Warriors would be willing to pay the price for a KD return. That price is likely (and reportedly) an All-Star-caliber player, young talent and a heap of draft picks.

Golden State has all three, which is why this is even a conversation. They have four coveted young talents: guard Jordan Poole, center James Wiseman and forwards Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody — all of them flashing great potential, and of the four, only Wiseman and Poole can legally buy alcohol. Andrew Wiggins, the player who would make the salaries work, has never had more value in the league. He was an All-Star starter in the Western Conference last year and proved during the postseason he is one of the best two-way players in the league.

Of course, trading Wiggins is a major hurdle. Besides the fact everyone in the organization loves him, Wiggins could only be included in a trade with Brooklyn if the Nets trade Ben Simmons first. CBA rules prohibit two players who received the “Designated Rookie Max” on the same team.

The draft picks are where the Warriors fall short in a deal. They are positioned to be good for at least the next four years, which is how long Stephen Curry is under contract. So the bounty of picks Brooklyn would demand is likely to be late first-round picks, and those aren’t nearly as valuable as the draft compensation they could get elsewhere.

The bigger issue is whether the Warriors are willing to give any of it up. They just won a title with this win-and-develop plan of pairing its championship core with youngsters. But they also passed on retaining key veterans in Gary Payton II and Otto Porter Jr. in part to make room for the development side of that dichotomy. Poole, Wiseman, Kuminga and Moody — probably safe to throw Wiggins in there, too — are the Warriors’ grand plan for continued success after the primes of Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. To cash those assets in for Durant, who will be 34 when the next season begins, essentially scraps the Warriors’ win-and-development plan.

Is there a compromise? A scenario where a couple of the young pieces are kept and Durant acquired? A three-team deal that could appease Brooklyn’s demands and keep the Warriors’ cupboard stocked? Well, that’s up to Brooklyn, really. It isn’t impossible, but no one in the organization is banking on it or planning on it.

The other major question: If a trade is possible, would the leaders of the locker room welcome Durant? According to multiple sources, they would, for the same reason they embraced him in 2016.

“I mean,” one source said, “it’s freaking…