According to NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer, the Golden State Warriors want to acquire Kevin Durant from the Phoenix Suns.
However, the Warriors are concerned about Durant’s true willingness to return.
Durant played for the Warriors from 2016-17 to 2018-19.
“There is a measure of concern for the Warriors — beyond the ongoing challenge of trying to get the reluctant Suns to actually part with Durant in the first place — about Durant’s true willingness to return to the Bay Area for a second engagement after no shortage of tumult during his highly successful first stint as a Warrior,” Stein and Fischer wrote.
Golden State won championships in 2017 and 2018. Durant won both Finals MVPs and many people thought the Texas product would retire with the Warriors.
However, Durant tore his Achilles in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals between the Warriors and Toronto Raptors. The future Hall of Famer left Golden State for the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2019 via a sign-and-trade deal.
According to Fischer, Durant knows the Suns are listening to trade offers for him.
“Phoenix, entering Monday’s business, continued to signal that it does not plan to move Durant before the deadline, sources said, but the Suns are believed to be listening at the very least to various teams’ pitches for the 35-year-old scoring legend,” Fischer wrote. “Durant, meanwhile, is said to be aware of all this. The Suns, mind you, are expected to maintain a very high asking price before they ever agreed to part ways with him. We’re talking serious draft capital and highly rated young talent. The Suns do have a level of interest in Jonathan Kuminga, sources said.
“Why is Phoenix even listening on Durant? The 25-23 Suns simply aren’t in position not to — especially after this Luka Doncic drama. Among the very real domino effects stemming from San Antonio’s acquisition of De’Aaron Fox: The Spurs just got a whole lot better and more competitive and became an even stronger challenger to swipe one of the Western Conference’s coveted Play-In Tournament spots from the teams with playoff aspirations (Phoenix, Golden State, Sacramento and Dallas) currently stuck in that range.”
One of the best scorers in NBA history, Durant is averaging 26.9 points this season.
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