Report: Kevin Durant ‘Wanted’ Suns To Trade Him To Knicks

According to Marc J. Spears of ESPN, Kevin Durant “wanted” the Phoenix Suns to trade him to the New York Knicks. 

However, the Knicks are not interested in trading for Durant, who turns 37 in September. 

Marc Spears:

“KD wanted the New York Knicks. The Knicks have no interest in bringing him in”

“There is some fear from him and Rich Kleiman that they’re hoping that there’s going to be respect at Kevin’s age to give him what he wants rather than try to trade him like he’s 31” pic.twitter.com/bzWLWq1j4e

— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) June 16, 2025

The Knicks made the conference finals this year for the first time since 2000. They lost to the Indiana Pacers in six games. 

New York fired Tom Thibodeau as head coach after losing to Indiana.

Thibodeau, who has coached the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves, was hired by the Knicks in 2020. He went 226-174 in the regular season and 24-23 in the playoffs and won the 2021 Coach of the Year Award. 

The Knicks have been denied permission to speak with Atlanta Hawks head coach Quin Snyder, Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka, Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch and Bulls coach Billy Donovan. 

Chicago signed Donovan to an extension after not letting New York speak to the former Florida Gator coach.

Durant nearly signed with the Knicks in 2019. He and Kyrie Irving wound up joining the Brooklyn Nets in free agency. 

The eighth leading scorer of all time, Durant won back-to-back championships and Finals MVPs with the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018. He tore his right Achilles tendon in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals between the Warriors and Raptors in Toronto and missed the entire 2019-20 season with Brooklyn. 

Durant is still one of the top scorers in the NBA. He averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists for the Suns this season in 62 starts while shooting 52.7% from the field, 43.0% from beyond the arc and 83.9% from the free-throw line.

The Rockets, Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs are the three teams Durant prefers to play for next.