The Timberwolves have been the team most aggressively pursuing Kevin Durant in trade talks so far, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said this morning during an appearance on Get Up (Twitter video link). Windhorst notes that Minnesota made a strong push to acquire Durant from the Suns before the February trade deadline to team him with Anthony Edwards, and that effort has been renewed this offseason.
Windhorst identifies the Raptors and Clippers as teams that are “lurking” in the Durant trade saga, with Toronto offering the ninth pick in this year’s draft along with combinations of players in “multiple different scenarios.”
A list of Durant’s preferred destinations leaked over the weekend, with the Spurs, Rockets and Heat reportedly the only teams he would considering signing an extension with. However, Windhorst hears that those three teams “have not made offers that have gotten Phoenix excited.” A report on Sunday indicated that the Suns are more focused on maximizing their return in a Durant trade than sending him someplace he wants to go.
Sources tell Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) that the Raptors are willing to give up either RJ Barrett or Immanuel Quickley to upgrade their roster, and several league figures have said they would consider including Jakob Poeltl as well if it means getting Durant in return. Phoenix is reportedly seeking a starting-level center for next season, and the Durant deal might be the best opportunity to acquire one.
Fischer reports that Toronto’s No. 9 selection is being viewed around the league as “perhaps the most likely top-10 pick in the draft to be traded.” He adds that the Raptors would prefer not to move out of the first round completely, so the Suns’ choice at No. 29 could be part of the deal.
Phoenix would love to get Ivica Zubac, Fischer adds, but the Clippers consider him off limits. However, he notes that L.A. has two future first-round picks and some swap rights that it could offer along with Norman Powell, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Derrick Jones.
Fischer doesn’t expect the Grizzlies to get involved in the Durant chase, even though they have a fresh collection of draft assets from Sunday’s Desmond Bane trade. He notes that Memphis was reluctant to pursue Jimmy Butler before the deadline because of fears that he wouldn’t sign an extension, and Durant is probably viewed the same way.
Addressing the Suns’ desire for a center, Fischer states that the team has done background work on Celtics‘ big man Kristaps Porzingis in case he’s made available. Fischer also hears that Phoenix would be interested in free agent Myles Turner if he doesn’t re-sign with the Pacers.
i don’t see how the money works with the T-wolves unless Randle opts in to his option. Still it would mean T-wolves giving up a few of their young players.
Rockets in chatting too
Smith and a player to Suns
Green to third team
They are NOT trading both Jalen Green and Jabari for KD. Stop. You keep saying this, this will not happen. Houston also likes Tari Eason a lot so you can stop mentioning him also.
Who could pass up 9 points a game, 3.5M per point in the playoffs
Sillivan constantly makes the most idiotic comments on this site. No surprise he said something dumb like this
Without a lot of Cap space around the league and a bad playoff showing, Randle may very well opt in. If not, he could still re-up and be sent out as part of a deal for Durant. Being below the first apron gives the T-Wolves the flexibility to use him as a S&T in a deal.
Chances are though that the Suns would be fine with him opting in instead of a S&T. Being able to wipe his contract off the books at the end of next season has to be an attractive proposition. Being over the second threshold while not being a playoff team is a terrible spot to be in.
Randle is 100% opting in. No one is giving him $30m. He’s a $15m quality backup, and he wants to be the man, 2nd option and he’s not good enough for that. It’s a terrible place for trams to be in.
Wut?! A backup?!? Oh my.., 🤣
Yeah, calling him a back up is crazy. He’s not a star, but he’s star adjacent. His game just doesn’t translate well to the current NBA, but that’s doesn’t mean that he’s a backup.
That’s not accurate. He was an AS in 3 of the last 5 szns.. 2 time all-nba selection in that timeframe and was on his way to a 3rd all-nba last szn in NY but missed like the last 30 games or so… you could say that he was trending to another all-nba season this year too but also missed too many games. Look at the run the Wolves went on when he returned to the court.
I don’t know why some ppl don’t respect his game.
Hey man, I’m a Knicks fan, so I got to see the best of Randle. Maybe I was a little harsh with my assessment, but the reason I said what I said is that there are stats guys, and there are guys who are more than stats. Randle is just guy #1 above, that’s all.
His game translates. Look at how he played down the stretch. He’s a playmaker, not just a bull.
I don’t think the Wolves are better with KD than they are with Randle. That’s a sideways move at best.
Kinda funny if they just end up turning KAT into Durant
And it could make them worse. KD is reluctant to play inside these days.
IMO, MIN probably would be better with KD vs Randle, but, in turn, PHX might be better with Randle vs KD. MIN can spare some physicality for shooting. PHX needs to be introduced to the concept of physicality. But if, as anticipated, DDV and other assets are added to the deal, then it’s more problematic for MIN.
I think Randle is absolutely an above average starter level talent, but he did get benched multiple quarters in this playoffs and has had very visible meltdowns both attitude and effort wise on and off the court. For more than one franchise. So I think it’s pretty disingenuous to claim you don’t see how people dislike him or his game.
Its definitely not worth throwing in any of the “young pups” on the roster. I like the kid out of Georgetown at 17 so throwin a Gobert centered deal wouldn’t be a loss to me either.
He didn’t have a bad playoffs, just two bad games in the conference finals. It isn’t like he was Jalen Green and scored 9 points or less in 6/7 games.
He had two really bad games against OKC, but he was good in the first two rounds.
Please can we hear about how Minnesota makes that deal with no draft capital to offer? Phoenix has said publicly they are demanding picks.
Randall would be the ballast, probably in the high $30’s. But with what else from Minnesota?
Or, maybe McDaniels and Gobert? That would leave Randall, KD, and Naz Reid up front for the Wolves.
Wolves have the 17th pick and a 31 in this draft.
Good point about this year’s 17th pick. Not sure how much a 2nd round pick moves the needle though.
As far as a practical matter goes, the Suns have the 29 pick so they are already doing workouts for players around that range.
I wonder if that matters to them, having already done the work on those players.
Suns are going to be very disappointed. How are they going to get matching money AND multiple picks?
No easy answer here but Phx would most likely get Randle and DDV and most likely they’d need a 3rd team to absorb Conley
How they do that with such limited draft capital is anyone’s guess
** It starts with KD being fussy tho scaring off other team pursuits (w better packages)
Per usual in the NBA sometimes its better not to know how the sausage was made . I wouldn’t put it outta reach under that premise but yea its hard to see from here clearly . Not to mention what the he&& would the backcourt be after all this?
McDaniels is almost as untouchable as ANT
Wolves have to wait until Randle AND Ried opt out right? So nothing is imminent.
I doubt Randle opts out
Fischer nearly mirrors what I said regarding Toronto… not that I believe he actually has accurate sources.. but if it’s true, I don’t know if the Suns would get better assets elsewhere. I think Barrett still has a nice career in front of him.
I really don’t get the Raptors push on this… they aren’t even close. Just blood in the water due to Boston and now the Knicks HC blunder.
Then why did they trade for Brandon Ingram?
Because they think they’re close, which is I’m not surprised that they are kicking the tires on Durant and Giannis.
Raptors have an extremely attractive package, solving all 3 of Phoenix’s needs in 1 shot:
PG: Quickley
SF: Barrett
C: Poetl
Raptors can also absorb Phoenix’s bad salaries (Allen, O’Neal), if necessary.
So the Raptors end up with Barnes, Durant, Allen and O’Neal as their four best players?
It’s sort of interesting for the Raptors because it seems like RJB is perennially available and if he is really a chip they are willing to use to get something, I’m not sure they can take a bigger swing, assuming Giannis stays in MIL.
And if KD doesn’t re-sign, then it would create a lot of cap space for TOR if I’m not mistaken.
I’m relieved the Dubs are not involved in the KD sweepstakes this time; prior to the February deadline, he felt like a better fit than Jimmy Buckets-On-Occasion. Gut your roster AND some of your draft capital for a guy like Giannis? YES. Gut your roster AND some of your draft capital for a guy liiiike….JJJ? Mmayyyybe. Gut your roster AND some of your draft capital for a soon-to-be 37 year-old guy entering the final year of a contract while gearing up to be on his 3rd different team in about a 2.5 year span?? Nah. Common sense will likely prevail in Miami; we’ll see about San Antonio and Houston (I wouldn’t touch this if I was either).
Sure DaveyJ we see you.
You might be on to something if Davey J bashed Brawny Sensation half as much as I’ve done, TallBaller. The only critical comment of his about BS I ever came across was when he called him “Mr. 4-6”. Otherwise, Davey J has made it clear he would love Brawny teaming up with Steph and KD on the Dubs; I would try my best not to watch if that ever materialized.
Davey J and The Chosen Dud: not the same person. One thing they DO have in common though: TBKB (they both know ball)
Saying that JJJ is maybe worth gutting your roster and adding draft capital shows that you don’t know ball
At least KD was honest about not wanting to go to GS. What’s funny about this is that the Suns don’t care if he doesn’t get to go where he wats to go anymore.
Suns have no leverage and will get a lot less than they would have at the previous trade deadline.
JJJ is intriguing, esp because his $25M deal this year means no salary matching problem in a trade.
I am sure after dealing Bane, there are plenty of teams calling about JJJ to see if MEM is going into rebuild. However, MEM most likely are wanting at minimum what they got for Bane, if not more.
I would not be surprised if HOU and SAS are holding back, and lurking more than negotiating. I don’t see either ever being aggressive for KD. They should be aggressive this off season, but not for KD, but more age appropriate veteran stars or quasi-stars.
MIA, if they want KD, should get aggressive pretty soon. Like MIN, they have to get a deal in place prior to the draft, even if it has to be consummated in July. TOR too, if the 9th pick is really part of the consideration. I’m not sure what LAC are doing here, except they would probably be willing to trade PHX whatever it wanted for KD, but unfortunately don’t have much of it.
Good to know Phx is monitoring Myles
And more than intrigued. They’re “highly intrigued”.
Resign Boucher and Temple for salary matching
RJ Barrett, Ja’Kobe Walter, Boucher, Temple and an unprotected first for KD.
Quickley Ingram Scottie KD Poeltl
Shead Dick Mogbo
Add something to the bench.
Great starting 5.
I know it’s human nature to be nosey gossip merchant’s and those who have hundreds of guesses to look and feel smart nailing one of gives you a good dopamine hit. But, this one was way out on a limb, lol.
Does KD want to live in minny? Don’t know him personally but I’ll go with hard NO.
Will KD resign in Minny. Again can’t speak for the man but quietly confident the answer would also be, hard NO.
Next.