Shams Charania of ESPN reported on Monday that Kevin Durant has “no desire” to be traded to the Timberwolves, but the Suns and Wolves are still hoping he’ll warm to the idea, league sources tell Sam Amick and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
Durant doesn’t have the ability to veto a trade, so Phoenix and Minnesota would be free to work out an agreement that sends the former MVP to the Timberwolves, even if he’s unwilling to immediately sign an extension with his new team.
However, after advancing to the Western Conference Finals in each of the past two seasons, the Wolves are reluctant to make a significant roster change if the incoming star isn’t on board, according to Amick and Krawczynski, who note that Rudy Gobert‘s enthusiasm for Minnesota was one reason president of basketball operations Tim Connelly gave up a substantial haul to acquire the big man in 2022.
As The Athletic’s duo writes, the Wolves believed when they spoke with the Suns at the trade deadline in February that Durant was open to playing in Minnesota, given his friendship with Anthony Edwards, his D.C.-area ties with Connelly, and the opportunity to team up with Jaden McDaniels, whose defensive prowess would reduce the pressure on KD at that end of the court. However, the Wolves have been made aware during their recent discussions with the Suns that Durant wants to play elsewhere.
Durant reportedly prefers to end up with the Spurs, Rockets, or Heat – and San Antonio may be atop that list, per The Athletic – but the offers from those teams haven’t been especially compelling from the Suns’ perspective, as Amick and Krawczynski explain. If Durant were more enthusiastic about Minnesota, the Wolves could feel more confident about making an aggressive play for him, which may in turn inspire another suitor to increase its bid.
“Phoenix is trying to drum up better offers,” one rival executive told The Athletic.
The Rockets have had “meaningful” talks with the Suns about Durant and have put a firm offer on the table, but Phoenix was underwhelmed by that proposal, according to Amick and Krawczynski, who hear from league sources that San Antonio has been “conservative” in its pursuit of the 15-time All-Star.
As for the Heat, it’s unclear whether they have the right pieces to really entice the Suns, since salary-matching veterans such as Andrew Wiggins and/or Duncan Robinson are unlikely to hold significant appeal to Phoenix.
While the Suns are said to have interest in Gobert, it remains to be seen whether the Timberwolves would be willing to put the four-time Defensive Player of the Year into their offer for Durant, The Athletic’s duo notes. The Wolves would likely be even more hesitant to put Gobert on the table if Durant remains opposed to the idea of becoming a Timberwolf.
Send him to MN and let him sit out if he wants, would be the perfect end to his career.
Well Minny wouldn’t want that obviously.
Sam Amick and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic wrote on Monday, June 16. “Houston has a firm offer on the table but Phoenix, to this point, has been seriously underwhelmed by it.
He doesn’t have to sit out. He can play one year then go wherever the hell he wants.
T-wolves want an extension out of him if they sign him so there is no deal without an extension.
This now sounds like Pat Riley finds a way to bring KD to Miami… tho it will certainly be the worst package.. I don’t know how they’d pull it off.
This is why the Suns are in trouble for many years. Instead of taking young players to rebuild the team into a playoff team. They are looking for established vets instead of young players and picks.
The Suns tanked for years. Bender, Jackson, Ayton.
Suns are really messed up if they want to trade a great player like Durant.
He wants to be traded, and moped through the last half of the season to make that clear. If they don’t trade him now he will just mope through next season and then leave in free agency. They have no choice, and that is why they are getting low balled from other teams.
He doesn’t mope. I don’t think that’s fair… but at this stage of his career, winning is clearly important to him.
Winning wasn’t important to him post trade deadline. That team gave up.
Ok, if the Suns can’t calm him down, but I mean his scoring and overall play remains excellent and with Booker, Durant and the Suns could and should be very good.
He still was the best player on the team and played hard.
The Suns were trash and Book and KD were as healthy as you should expect from them. They cant and wont be very good. Not with this roster…
Yeah he def wasn’t moping … I thought he was, but his stats said otherwise. Not sure what his body language was like (prob not great) but …
Before/After the Trade Deadline: (pts/trb/ast … fg/3pt/ft)
26.9/6.1/4.2 … .524/.398/.827 vs
26.0/6.0/4.4 … .531/.482/.863
Pretty consistent.
Ok his numbers were fine, but yeah body language. During timeouts me wouldn’t go to the huddle, he would just stay on the court. The vibes on the team were awful. They looked totally disinterested, and like they were just waiting for the season to be over. You could feel it through the TV. To be fair most of the blame probably lies with the suns in how they bungled the trade deadline. But KD pushed to be there, and was one of the team leaders so some of the blame should fall on him too.
That team was just really disappointing to watch. I stopped watching them down the stretch cause it was clear they didn’t want to put in the effort to win.
The wolves trade is the hardest one to pull off lol.
Spurs, Rockets, Heat, and a few other non 2nd apron teams are way easier to facilitate.
Gobert to the Suns really isn’t a needle mover long term. Gobert is 33.
Wolves can come out of the second apron once the new league year starts. The problem is they dont have much assets not on the roster, so the deal has to be one of Gobert/Randle if he opts in and some of the young guys with upside.
Only one problem – they don’t appear to want him – the reasons for which should be very obvious to all of you
Send him to where wants to go..he deserves that ..as for ohhh well we traded a buttload of stuff yo get him here .. and then put it on the player .. as an organization you didn’t have to trade all of that for him .. that falls on the suns not KD
Its just a simple fact that KD at 34 with 4 more seasons under contract is far more valuable than KD at 37 on an expiring where you will have to extend him late into his 30s at max money.
Maybe he doesn’t want to live there and does not think Ant would be a great fit next to him.
My guess is he doesn’t like the cold.
Pretty sure thats it. I think he likes Ant and the roster would be better than his current one, but I think its both the cold, and MIN is not the funnest place for a dude without kids that wants to do stuff.
He has a child..just keeps it real low..
No he does not. He has publicly talked about not having kids recently. He was engaged to a WNBA player a while back, but no wife no kids…
If you know you know…
It’s possible that MIN may not want to offer up that “best” return if KD is adamant about not wanting to play there. It would certainly affect what I would offer in their position, but that doesn’t mean I might not still be offering the best return. MIN might be OK, even if its not thrilled, with KD just playing the year. Some teams, might be thrilled. You have to see the return to determine if that’s smart or not.
The problem is that the pieces they would want to “keep” are the ones like Gobert that are must includes for salary purposes. Like this roster doesnt have 54M in salary it just wants to throw away so no matter how you do it its a big cost.
If Randle were to opt in (and if he’s being discussed, then they already know that he’s willing to), then why would they need to include Gobert? Add DDV, Conley (expiring) and a minor contract, plus the FRP and SRP? It wouldn’t all need to go to PHX, as there will be another team in the deal.
If Gobert is an essential piece, I don’t understand the trade talks to start with.
I dont think anyone knows that Randle would opt in. I would think he wouldnt if he knows hes getting traded to PHX. The only way I could see him doing it is for an opt in and extend where he gets above market value. Like swapping KD for Randle isnt going to make the Suns better next year so why would he want to go to a bad team on a one year deal?
I think after the playoffs he may just opt out no matter what since he seems to have raised his value, where MIN will have to pay up to keep him.
If Randle opts out you can really do a deal without Goberts money.
OK. I don’t believe that either team would negotiate a deal like this without knowing who the centerpiece of one side of the consideration would be (it’s Randle or its Gobert, I doubt it’s either/or). Or that, with a few weeks to go, MIN wouldn’t have already inquired (even without this deal) as to Randle’s and his agent’s thoughts on his upcoming opt in/out decision. BTW, Phoenix, the city, is a VERY attractive place for NBA players to live during their season. PHX, the team, could well improve with Randle (+ other assets) vs Durant. In any event Durant is 37 and wants out, so the question is not whether Randle (+) > Durant, but whether that is > the alternative trade returns.
My point was the option decision is probably more based on what teams have been telling his agent they would pay. Like after finishing the season strong and carrying them at times in the playoffs he has probably earned more money next year. If he opts out he makes more and gets to control where he plays, either MIN or elsewhere.
So Im pretty sure they are including Gobert since I dont know what the deal with Randal is, and I think they may still not if he hasnt decided yet.
Also I think Randal is enough of a step down from KD that yes they would be worse with him and some other junk instead. Team didnt make the playoffs this year, and they wont make it next year either.
If he couldn’t lift the Nets and he couldn’t lift the Sun’s, then why line up to give away yiut future and hundreds of millions of dollars? he’s shown what he is at this stage of his career.
Yeah I could see the Heat offering Rozier, Jovic, Robinson and 1 or even 2 future 1sts. The Heat are pretty pot committed and Riley wants to see more deep playoff runs.
But again, unless the Suns are super high on Jovic, RJ Barrett is probably the best player i’ve heard mentioned as part of any proposal. I just have my doubts that the Suns can get the draft assets they probably want from anyone. I would focus on the Raptors if I were running the Suns but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Heat are more aggressive in making a KD deal.
Send him to Canada like the spurs did Kawhi. He’ll love the weather there the most.
KD to the Lakers is not a crazy idea with the blessing of Adam Silver and a LeBron pay cut. Remember this: Anthony Davis to the Lakers, and the Pelicans got the first pick; Luka to the Lakers, and Dallas got the first pick, so why not KD to the Lakers, and Phoenix Suns will receive the first pick next year? Why not? Remember everything that the King wants is possible.
The only problem with that is that their first round pick next year goes to Washington on Orlando. If I understand correctly there’s a 4-way merry-go-round of the picks between Washington, Orlando, Memphis and Phoenix, and the Suns get the lowest of those 4 xD
How you matching 54m salary with LAL?
The suns just look more and more incompetent. The Beal trade, then spending all that time trying to trade him and getting no where. Then blowing the KD trade at the deadline. Now this whole KD trade is playing out in the press and they probably won’t get much back. What a disaster. We need a nick-name for the sad sack suns.
Umm, KD, no one else wants you so….
Pat Riley in Miami will take Durant in a second! Riley’s no dummy. Durant has scored 25+ every year since his rookie year and could be the piece to another title.
warm and minnesota dont go together
The Suns desire to remain competitive is just so they don’t give up a top pick to someone else. They want to get under the 2nd apron as well. To do so, you would need to reroute like 14-15 M of incoming salary or trade with someone that has cap space.
A lot to ask in one trade given the cap situation around the league
Pretty sure they want cap space once the Beal deal expires since it will be the only way to put a star next to Booker with their asset outlay
The Suns are doomed… Dooooooooomed…
MN needs to back off and not have a terrible locker room guy like that. The only trade now would be dumping Randle for anyone, even KD or Garland and giving up both 17 and 31. Wolves don’t have enough roster to play new picks anyway with Clark, Shannon, Dill, Minott ready to step up.