Suns, Nuggets, Bucks, Hawks Among Those Who Have Talked Kevin Durant Trade

Well, it’s safe to say there’s no shortage of trade interest in Kevin Durant.

We already knew that, as we relayed earlier this month that the Nets had spoken to nearly every team in the league about their superstar forward. Now, some of those teams have been revealed, along with the several we already knew about, of course.

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Grizzlies, Celtics, Raptors, Heat, Suns, 76ers, Bucks, Pelicans, Nuggets and Hawks are all at least somewhat in the mix — or have been recently. We wrote more about the Grizzlies’ interest right here.

The Suns and Heat have been reported as Durant’s top two “preferred destinations,” beginning earlier this summer, when he first made his trade request. He later reiterated the request in a meeting with Nets owner Joe Tsai, as we relayed here.

It appears that the Celtics, Raptors and Heat remain the frontrunners, but as any trade for a superstar, a deal won’t come easily.

For starters, per Charania, the Celtics do not want to include Marcus Smart or Robert Williams alongside Jaylen Brown in a Durant trade, and the Heat are reluctant to part with Bam Adebayo (something that would require, by NBA rules, the Nets to also trade Ben Simmons).

As for the Raptors, the Nets are still trying to pry away reigning Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes, and Toronto wants no part of that. 

As for the others, it appears the Suns are willing to part with Mikal Bridges and multiple draft picks, per Charania, but have yet to come close to matching what others are putting on the table. Also, the Pelicans remain unwilling to deal Brandon Ingram as part of a package for Durant.

Meanwhile, the Hawks recently floated John Collins, De’Andre Hunter and a draft pick, Charania wrote, though it remains unclear which pick they made available.

All of that said, with five weeks before training camp tips off, it appears a Durant trade has yet to gain any serious traction. But from the sounds of things, it’s not because of a lack of interest.

At some point, and perhaps soon, the Nets will huddle up and decide on the best offer. Bringing back Durant at this point would not seem like a winning situation. More like degrees of losing.