What's your definition of a franchise player?

[Colbinii]

A player that is MVP caliber, future HOFer, that can win a championship and will retire with the franchise and have his jersey retired.

Kobe, Duncan, KG, Pierce, Dirk, James, Wade, Curry, Durant...

The recently retired class are great examples of franchise players.

Who is going to retire Durant's jersey?

[Winsome Gerbil]

Franchise player can be interpreted as either slightly wider or slightly narrower than "superstar", but I have a tendency to conflate the two. For instance, John Wall is clearly Washington's "franchise player", but he's not quite a superstar, and so I leave him off. The player should be his team's alpha and omega, the guy in every poster, the guy that when the next game is announced its announced as "Player X and the Team X". And with the modern "hey, let's all team up and beat up little Jimmy!" trend, it gets more murky because so many of the potential franchise players are crowded together.

In any case, there are about 11 of them right now by my count:

Lebron
Curry
Durant
Westbrook
Cp3
Cousins
Davis
George
Blake
Harden
Kawhi

and while it annoys people, I still consider Kawhi the shakiest name on the list, because he has the ability, but has not been a runaway #1 over there, and it was hard not to call Duncan the franchise guy even long after he was not that player. Kawhi will be though, so belongs. Next obvious guy up with a chance is KAT. Melo was one, but I think has diminished out of it now. Kyrie, Wall, Klay, Draymond, Drummond, Gasol, Milsap etc. are not that level of guy. They are best players, or part of larger machines, not the franchise.

[StepBackCrack]

A player that is MVP caliber, future HOFer, that can win a championship and will retire with the franchise and have his jersey retired.

Kobe, Duncan, KG, Pierce, Dirk, James, Wade, Curry, Durant...

The recently retired class are great examples of franchise players.

Who is going to retire Durant's jersey?

Golden State? If he retires as a Warrior of course.
It's possible.

[magicmerl]

Franchise player can be interpreted as either slightly wider or slightly narrower than "superstar", but I have a tendency to conflate the two. For instance, John Wall is clearly Washington's "franchise player", but he's not quite a superstar, and so I leave him off. The player should be his team's alpha and omega, the guy in every poster, the guy that when the next game is announced its announced as "Player X and the Team X". And with the modern "hey, let's all team up and beat up little Jimmy!" trend, it gets more murky because so many of the potential franchise players are crowded together.

In any case, there are about 11 of them right now by my count:

Lebron
Curry
Durant
Westbrook
Cp3
Cousins
Davis
George
Blake
Harden
Kawhi

and while it annoys people, I still consider Kawhi the shakiest name on the list, because he has the ability, but has not been a runaway #1 over there, and it was hard not to call Duncan the franchise guy even long after he was not that player. Kawhi will be though, so belongs. Next obvious guy up with a chance is KAT. Melo was one, but I think has diminished out of it now. Kyrie, Wall, Klay, Draymond, Drummond, Gasol, Milsap etc. are not that level of guy. They are best players, or part of larger machines, not the franchise.

I like your list, but I still think that's too generous for 'franchise player' label in terms of leading championship contenders. I think the shortlist is LeBron, Curry, Durant, Westbrook, Cp3 and Harden. There's a second tier of guys who could well get it together and join that group if their health/skills/situation improves, like Kawhi, KAT, Davis and Cousins.

I don't think that Paul George and Blake Griffin from your list are true championship anchors. I think they are more at the John Wall / LMA / Melo level.

[Jedi32]

A player that is MVP caliber, future HOFer, that can win a championship and will retire with the franchise and have his jersey retired.

Kobe, Duncan, KG, Pierce, Dirk, James, Wade, Curry, Durant...

The recently retired class are great examples of franchise players.

Who is going to retire Durant's jersey?

I believe the Warriors and OKC will.

[AMW27]

Here's what I say

Franchise player is a guy that that's capable of leading a team to a title as the undisputed best player on the team. They can turn a team into a playoff team instantly. LeBron , Curry, Durant ect

Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, Pau Gasol, guys like these at their very best can be your best player on your team but most likely can't lead your team to a title as the lead guy. Best suited as the number 2 guy on a contender.

[Pendragon]

A player that is MVP caliber, future HOFer, that can win a championship and will retire with the franchise and have his jersey retired.

Kobe, Duncan, KG, Pierce, Dirk, James, Wade, Curry, Durant...

The recently retired class are great examples of franchise players.

Who is going to retire Durant's jersey?

OKC and probably the Warriors.