WASHINGTON, D.C. -- When Kevin Durant has his name announced on Wednesday, it'll probably come with a raucous cheer. He'll look around the arena and see fans wearing his name on jerseys. He'll hear fans yelling out for him. He'll see signs supporting him.

But he won't be at home in Oklahoma City. He'll be home, in Washington, D.C.

Durant and the Thunder make their one and only trip to Verizon Center this season to play the Wizards on Wednesday (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET), and the undercurrent won't be about the present, how OKC's finally over .500 and pushing for the playoffs. It'll be about the future, and Durant's decision that comes in 2016. The Thunder and Wizards will play in a big game between good teams, but fans will be focused more on winning over Durant, rather than winning the game.

With the transactional fever that follows the NBA, the conversation remains unavoidable. Durant has thus far said all the right things when asked about it, pledging commitment to the Thunder for the duration of his remaining contract, promising unwavering focus for the rest of this season and the next. But he's also made sure to prop the door open slightly, leaving room for an exit plan to take shape.

When 2016 rolls around, there will be plenty of franchises competing for Durant's signature. But the Wizards already are assumed to be a front-runner. How? And why?

There's actually no answer to either of those questions, because at this moment, there is no front-runner. There is no short list. All that exists is a season and a half before Durant gets to that part. And yet, the conversation persists.

The #KD2DC movement seems like it has steam, like there's enough smoke to signal a fire is burning somewhere. But here's reality: The storyline isn't tangible. There's nothing to suggest Durant is considering the Wizards at this point.

If you follow the breadcrumbs, the story has persisted for a while, but really manifested shortly after LeBron James announced he was returning to Cleveland, which lit the lamp for social media to speculate about Durant doing the same with his hometown. The only time Durant has talked about it is when he has been asked about it. Everything else thus far has been conjecture. Assumption is what has driven the story.

That assumption -- that Durant would go home because LeBron did -- doesn't hold much water. Like everyone else, Durant praised LeBron's decision, and the "classy" way he did it. But Durant is no follower. He's his own man who makes his own choices. Do you really think he'd return to D.C. simply because LeBron went home? Durant sees LeBron as a peer, not as a hero. At this point, that's all anyone is working with in making this a story, which says to me there is no story -- at least not yet.

Here's what Durant said during the summer at USA Basketball camp:

“I’m going to do what’s best for me. It’s hard to talk about that right now when I’ve got two years left in Oklahoma City. I’m just going to focus on that. I’m not going to make a decision based on what anybody else does.”

Durant's choice in 2016 will certainly have emotional and business aspects to it, but for the most part, it will be about where he can win for the next five years. In Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka are under contract through 2017. The Thunder's core will have been together nine seasons by the time Durant is a free agent, and they all still will be under the age of 28.

Every decision the Thunder have made has always been with an eye toward 2016. General manager Sam Presti's vision of sustained success is centered on having a transformative star for the duration of his career. There's a constant beckon for the Thunder to win now or else, but Presti's view is to make sure his ducks are in a row in two years so that when his core players hit their prime, they're in a position to build rather than tear down.

Some have painted that as the organization merely being cheap and wasting years of Durant's surefire Hall of Fame career, but the Thunder see it as operating against the real challenges of succeeding in one of the league's smallest markets. The Thunder have never taken a shortsighted look at their future. It's never been about a two- or three-year window. It's always been about maximizing it to as many years as possible. And while the Thunder have yet to break through, they've also been in the title mix consistently the past four seasons, with unfortunate injuries playing a significant part in derailing good chances. Can any other organization offer that?

The Wizards have a blossoming core of young talent, and also offer the relief of the Eastern Conference, which may present an easier path to the Finals. Of the teams that will recruit him in 2016, the Wizards can make a strong case. But if their pitch is simply for him to come home, that might not appeal to Durant. Remember: He played his year of college basketball in Texas, some 1,500 miles away, after being recruited everywhere.

Durant is a basketball player first, one who prefers to limit distractions. He previously has said that Oklahoma City's small-town, sleepy feel helps in that way. And if he played in D.C., maintaining focus could be a challenge.

“I just told you I had to buy 100 tickets. I spent a lot of money on tickets. Imagine if I played here,” Durant said in February 2014 about what it's like returning to D.C. “I don’t even want to think about that. I haven’t given it any thought, playing up here. I love Oklahoma City. I love coming here and visiting."

Durant has resisted dropping any hints, or giving any indication about his plans. All he has made clear is that he's focused on the Thunder, and that he loves playing in Oklahoma City. The future will have choices, and he'll make those one way or the other. But consider what he said during his MVP speech last spring in talking about OKC:

"You get knocked down but you keep getting back up, keep fighting, it's the perfect place for me," he said. "The grass isn't always greener somewhere else."