The Kevin Durant free agency rumor mill is now set to ramp up even further, and teams with a chance to win an NBA title in the next few years will be at the front of the line. The Boston Celtics were previously mentioned as a team that would court Durant, but the plot has gotten a little thicker.

According to Butch Stearns of Fox 25 in Boston, via an interview on WEEI and citing a “source”, Durant’s agent has given the Celtics a list of players they would need to sign in order to land him.

It’s fair to assume a similar list has been offered to other teams with interest in Durant, but without the in-house star power that may draw his immediate attention.

Here’s a sample of what Stearns had to say.

“I have this on pretty good authority: The Celtics have sat with his agent and other representatives of Durant,” Stearns said. “The Celtics do know — I don’t know who it is — but they do know who he would prefer to be brought here in a LeBron [James]-Chris Bosh-Dwyane Wade-like way. Because that’s how it works in the NBA. You need to know who the guy or guys that that guy wants, which would be a factor.

“Now, I don’t know if Durant’s told them that. But the Celtics know. They know. They’ve been told what group of guys he would want to come here.”

I still see the Celtics as an incredible long-shot to sign Durant, and they are hardly alone in that boat. But if Boston can assemble a couple pieces of their own “Big Three”, Danny Ainge‘s pitch to move to the league’s softer conference would gain strength very quickly.