Especially when Yu Fei returned with the aura of a savior, Durant's position became awkward.
They had once hoped that Yu Fei would demand the Supersonics to trade Durant for immediate competitive power.
But Yu Fei showed an unexpected level of patience, not only accepting Durant but also not caring that he was the new star heavily promoted by Nike. This led Nike to devise another plan—Durant was six years younger than Yu Fei, so when Yu Fei was 30, Durant would be just 24, at the peak of his strength.
They could look forward to Durant taking power from Yu Fei.
If Durant improved quickly enough, he could even change the Supersonics from a situation dominated by a superstar to an open confrontation between two major factions, like the OK duo.
However, reality did not go according to their plans.