Larry Sanders hasn't played in the NBA for 20 months but he's considering a return.

Sanders will not return to the NBA until he feels mentally healthy enough to do so. He may not return at all.

"If the time comes and the stars align, then yeah," he said. "If I feel like I'm ready to play this summer, I'll probably be on a team next year."

Multiple sources confirmed that both the Warriors and Cavaliers expressed serious interest in signing Sanders.

"He's not DeAndre Jordan, but he's not too far off," a league source told VICE Sports. "As a pure defensive specialist center, top five. Top eight. And the thing is, the list isn't that long. It's not a top 30. There's not a top 12. They're unicorns in that way."

Sanders refers to himself as retired from the NBA but he still talks about playing in the present tense.

"You want to see me create? Watch me play defense," he said. "Because I'm thrilled by it. I love playing defense, I love watching how guys move and who's on the cut. I love anticipating blocks. I love contesting shots, altering shots. I love it. I love guarding somebody. I hate if someone scores on me—I hate that! I'm driven by it, man. It fuels me."

According to a league source who had conversations with multiple former teammates of Sanders, "he was his own guy and if you didn't fit in with him, he didn't want to know you."

Kevin Durant has been named the favorite player of the incoming rookie class for the third straight season.

Durant's popularity grew from 21.2 percent up to 29.7 percent this season as he returned from injury and signed with the Warriors.

Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook tied with 9.4 percent of the vote.

Russell Westbrook stars in an Air Jordan commercial that could be a reference to the departure of Kevin Durant. While Westbrook signed a one-year extension with the Thunder, Durant left the team to sign with the Warriors.

Westbrook is dribbling down a blacktop basketball court and prepares to jump from the free throw line but as the camera pans up, he is actually on an airplane runway.

A gravelly voice says "Some run. Some make runways."

Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux), Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider (@kpelton) and Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated (@BenGolliver) break down the Pacific Division.

In the offseason review, they pick who got better and worse, discuss notable moves (17:22) and pick the rookies they are most excited to see (42:34).

In the season preview, they rank the teams 1-5 (53:44), predict how many playoff teams will come out of the Pacific (1:02:35), choose breakout players (1:16:00) and much more.

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For the first time, Billy Donovan talked publicly about Kevin Durant leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder to sign with the Golden State Warriors this offseason.

Donovan coached Durant for just one season, joining the Thunder from Florida in the 2015 offseason.

"I don't know if I ever felt like he was going to necessarily come back, but I thought our meeting went very, very well," said Donovan. "I think Kevin on the front end was very, very, honest that when the season ended, he was going to go through this process and he was going to take a meeting with us, obviously, first. And then he was going to have some other teams he was going to meet with. And I think a little bit later on, after the season ended, they decided to do it out in The Hamptons.

"But I thought the meeting that we had went very well. I think we talked about basketball, we talked about our team, we talked about direction, we talked about obviously his leadership, his role, all those kind of things. I think leaving the meeting it was very, very positive. I thought it was very, very clear. I think there was direction on both sides.

"But one thing I think with Kevin was going through nine years in the organization, he was at a point of time when he was allowed obviously to be a free agent and go through this process and start to gather some information. We were the first meeting. So obviously, I think being in college for so long and you go through recruiting, you know that during that process, things can change through some of these different meetings. And obviously after meeting with Golden State, things probably in his mind changed in terms of what he was evaluating."

Donovan was asked if getting over Durant's departure was different for him since he had only been there with him for one season.

"One of the things I did when I first came in that I thought was really important; there was so much of a story surrounding the fact that Kevin last year was hurt and he had missed 50-something games. Now he was getting himself back healthy. We had a chance to spend a lot of time last summer together because he was in OKC rehabbing his foot getting himself ready to play. And I talked to him a lot about the fact that I wanted to help him and our team get better and be the best version of ourselves and how could I bring value and help.

"But I didn't want to get involved in the free agency talk at all because, one, it really was not my place. I didn't have a relationship with Kevin at all. I obviously knew him as a player from afar but I didn't have a relationship to inject myself. So I really tried to do every single day is to focus on helping him and our team get better.

"The thing I thought Kevin did a great job of this year was the fact that everywhere we went to a lot of different marketplaces, there was always the question of 'Are you going to consider this team? Are you going to consider that team? Have you given this any thought?'

"I really appreciated for our team we were able to stay focused on our team, the season, the playoffs, without having the distraction. I thought Kevin handled it really, really well and was consistent all the way through."

Kevin Durant ended an emotional summer in which he left the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors by winning a gold medal in the Olympics.

USA Basketball provided Durant a sanctuary, playing basketball while bonding with new and old friends.

“It was therapy for me after making a big change in my life,” Durant said. “It made my life easier … I knew [a backlash] was coming. It was definitely different for me, but to come here in an environment where people accepted me and didn’t care about anything except being my buddy, that’s what I needed.”

Durant isn't sure if he'll return for Tokyo in 2020.

“I can’t say right now,” Durant told The Vertical. “I’ll be 31, going on 32 …”

Kevin Durant feels like he's at his best as a player when he is more concerned with the process rather than the outcome.

“I was telling myself before I left my room that I’m at my best when I don’t care if we win or lose,” Durant said after his best game of these Olympics with 27 points, seven rebounds and six assists against Argentina. “It might be different for other players, but for me I’m more free and more aggressive in games and it’s more fun for me if I don’t care about the outcome.”

Durant typically writes, “Have Fun” and “Smile” on his sneakers but forgot to scribble that reminder before facing Argentina.

Kevin Durant and DeAndre Jordan have continued to forge a meaningful friendship this summer as members of Team USA.

Durant considers Jordan one of his best friends in the NBA.

“If I were to get married today, he’d be in my wedding,” Durant told The Vertical about Jordan. “That’s how it is. That’s my brother.”

When relayed Durant’s comments about being in his whenever wedding, Jordan nodded and told The Vertical, “For sure, he’s going to be in mine.”

Durant first met Jordan shortly after he committed to Texas and tried to convince Jordan, who was a year younger, to join the program. Since Durant has begun making his offseason home in Los Angeles, the two have grown closer.

Jordan tried to help convince Durant to sign with the Clippers.

“I tried every day,” Jordan told The Vertical. “We had a shot. And if you ask him, he’d say we had a shot. People can be happy for him, mad at him, but at the end of the day, he did what was best for Kevin, and he can live with that.”

After the Olympics are over, Durant and Jordan will return to being rivals.

“We’ve always been cool,” Jordan told The Vertical. “We compete against each other four times a year. We hang out in the summertime, go on trips together, so it’s great to be on the same team together now.”

Phil Pressey has agreed to join the Golden State Warriors for training camp.

Pressey could conceivably give the Warriors depth at point guard. 

Pressey played 23 games last season combined for the 76ers and Suns, averaging 3.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 12.3 minutes per game.

Pressey also played in 25 games in the D-League, averaging 13.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.9 assists. in 35.6 minutes per game.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will host the New York Knicks on opening night when they collect their 2016 championship rings on October 25th.

The Cavs also hosted the Knicks in LeBron James' first game back in 2014.

The Golden State Warriors will host the San Antonio Spurs in the second game of the opening night doubleheader.