The San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat will pursue a Kevin Durant trade this offseason, an NBA source told Hoops Wire.
The Phoenix Suns almost traded Durant at this year’s trade deadline and Durant wasn’t happy about it.
The Golden State Warriors had a deal to acquire Durant, but KD blocked it because he didn’t want to play for the Warriors again.
NBA reporter Brian Windhorst of ESPN believes Durant will “probably” get traded by the Suns this summer.
“He’s probably going to get traded this summer,” Windhorst said. “He knows it. The Suns know it. The rest of the league knows it. They’re going to enjoy him while they have him. It’s not really controversial in all honesty. They’re under .500. They have a $230 million payroll, then add over $100 million on tax on top of that.”
One of the best players in NBA history, Durant is making $51.2 million this season. He’ll make $54.7 million next season in the final year of his contract.
According to Windhorst and Ramona Shelburne, Durant was open to getting traded to the Heat at this year’s trade deadline.
“Durant, however, would have been open to playing for the Heat, sources said, so Miami debated cutting the Warriors out completely and dealing Jimmy Butler to Phoenix for Durant, sources said,” Shelburne and Windhorst wrote. “Pat Riley, after all, had wanted Durant for years. In 2016, Riley landed one of the famous meetings in the Hamptons where Durant took pitches from various teams and the Warriors closed by getting Stephen Curry to sell Durant on a partnership. Riley had tried again in 2019 when Durant left Golden State for the Brooklyn Nets but ended up pulling off a shrewd sign-and-trade for Butler that summer instead.
“It was there to be done, Durant to Miami, and the teams traded proposals, sources said. But Phoenix, which paid for Durant in 2023 with four first-round picks and three pick swaps to Brooklyn, was seeking significant compensation for the player, who is now 36 and under contract for just one more season. Ultimately, Miami felt it would be mortgaging its future by going down the path with Durant, sources said, and they decided not to move forward in the talks. The third attempt to land Durant would not be the charm for Riley and Heat.”
Durant is a four-time scoring champion, a two-time champion, a two-time Finals MVP and a one-time regular-season MVP.
The future Hall of Famer has played for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Warriors, Brooklyn Nets and Suns.
Durant, who turns 37 next season, is averaging 27.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists this season while shooting 53.2% from the field, 40.4% from 3 and 82.5% from the free-throw line.
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