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Suns Engaged In KD Trade Talks With Rockets, Heat, Wolves

June 13th, 2025 at 12:31pm CST by Luke Adams

With trade negotiations heating up ahead of the June 25 draft, the Rockets, Heat, and Timberwolves have been the teams most seriously engaged with the Suns in recent days about a potential deal for Kevin Durant, ESPN’s Shams Charania said during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday (Twitter video link).

“(The Suns have) had about six to eight teams reach out,” Charania said. “There’s been interest, there’s been some offers, there’s been some negotiations. But really in the last 24 to 48 hours, I’m told, the focus of the Suns’ conversations has been on a few of the teams: the Houston Rockets, the Miami Heat, and the Minnesota Timberwolves. I’m told those are the three teams right now where a lot of the focus for Durant lies.”

When Charania reported earlier this week that the Suns, Durant, and KD’s business partner and manager Rich Kleiman were sifting through potential trade scenarios, he mentioned those three clubs, along with the Knicks and Spurs, as possibilities for the superstar forward.

Since then, multiple reports from beat writers covering the Knicks have indicated New York isn’t pursuing Durant, while a report on Thursday suggested there’s growing skepticism about San Antonio acquiring the former MVP.

That doesn’t mean that Houston, Miami, and Minnesota are the only suitors still in the mix, however.

When John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (YouTube link) discussed the situation during a radio appearance on Thursday, he said he’s also keeping an eye on the Spurs, Raptors, and Clippers in addition to the Rockets, Heat, and Timberwolves, adding that there may be a couple other wild-card teams in play too. ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst also mentioned the Clippers today as a possible Durant suitor.

Gambadoro also mentioned that he believes Durant prefers to end up with one of the Texas teams – San Antonio and Houston – though that sounds more like informed speculation than hard reporting.

Interestingly, both Charania and Gambadoro believe a trade could be consummated well in advance of the draft. Gambadoro said during Thursday’s Burns & Gambo show that he’s predicting a deal will occur at some point next week. Asked on Friday on McAfee’s show about that report, Charania concurred.

“You said a week. I think it could be even sooner than that,” Charania said. “I think there’s some motivation with some teams. Potentially even sooner than seven days. Maybe in the next few days we could get some Kevin Durant trade action.”

As Kurt Helin of NBC Sports points out, commissioner Adam Silver and the league office have typically discouraged teams from making (or at least leaking) mid-June blockbuster trades that would upstage the NBA Finals, so even though there appears to be traction on the Durant front, that’s a factor to consider when projecting a timeline for an agreement.

The NBA Finals could end on Monday at the earliest, with a potential Game 6 scheduled for Thursday (June 19) and Game 7 to be played next Sunday (June 22), if necessary.

Bontemps/Windhorst’s Latest: Durant, Clippers, Knicks, Jerome

June 13th, 2025 at 10:58am CST by Luke Adams

Kevin Durant said in February that he was “blindsided” when he learned that the Suns were discussing potential trades involving him without his knowledge, and sources tell ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst that there was some disagreement within the organization about how those talks were handled.

According to ESPN’s duo, that situation is one reason why Suns owner Mat Ishbia and new general manager Brian Gregory have spoken repeatedly about a desire for all of the team’s leaders to be in “alignment” going forward. It’s also why Durant and his manager Rich Kleiman are being kept in the loop during this summer’s trade talks.

Still, while the Suns would ideally like to find a deal that Durant is happy with, finding “alignment” with the star forward on that front is ultimately less important for the franchise than maximizing its return in any KD trade, as Bontemps and Windhorst observe. League sources who have spoken to ESPN believe Phoenix may have a hard time finding a package the front office will be satisfied with, though there’s still a sense a deal could get done before or during the draft.

Bontemps and Windhorst identify the Clippers as one potential dark-horse suitor to watch in the Durant sweepstakes, echoing an earlier report from John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7.

Here are a few more highlights from that ESPN report:

Due in part to a lack of high-end free agents and teams with cap room, one source who spoke to ESPN predicted the draft will be busier than normal in terms of trades and might even be the summer’s “high point of activity.”
The Knicks were declined permission to speak to five head coaches currently under contract with rival teams, but there’s a belief that those initial denials may not be the end of the team’s pursuit of Mavericks coach Jason Kidd and/or Bulls coach Billy Donovan, per Bontemps and Windhorst. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link) has heard similar rumblings, but he says Donovan “isn’t going anywhere” and is “in Chicago to stay.” We wrote more on Thursday about why New York may not be ready to move on from Kidd right away.
While there’s an expectation around the NBA that it may take the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($14.1MM) to sign free agent guard Ty Jerome this summer, the Cavaliers are hopeful that he’ll be willing to re-sign in Cleveland for a little less than that, sources tell ESPN. With starting point guard Darius Garland coming off toe surgery, the Cavs may feel some added pressure to bring back Jerome, but the cost would be high, since the club projects to operate above the second tax apron and will face a substantial luxury tax bill.
In case you missed it, Bontemps and Windhorst also shared a handful of Bucks-related notes and rumors, which we rounded up in a separate story.

Draft Workouts: Jazz, Wolves, Kings, Broome

June 12th, 2025 at 5:56pm CST by Rory Maher

The Jazz are hosting a pre-draft workout on Friday featuring Colorado State wing Nique Clifford, North Carolina wing Drake Powell, Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner and Tennessee guard Chaz Lanier, multiple league sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Clifford is the top-ranked prospect of the group, according to ESPN’s big board, coming in at No. 22. Powell (No. 31), Kalkbrenner (No. 33) and Lanier (No. 37) are also viewed as strong bets to be drafted, either late in the first round or early in the second.

Utah currently controls four picks — Nos. 5, 21, 43 and 53 — in June’s draft.

Here are a few more notes regarding pre-draft workouts:

The Timberwolves, who control the 17th and 31st picks, are holding a workout Thursday that includes Asa Newell (Georgia), Jamir Watkins (Florida State), Keshon Gilbert (Iowa State) and Steven Crowl (Wisconsin), reports Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News and SKOR North (via Twitter). Newell, who was invited to the green room, is ranked No. 21 on ESPN’s board, while Watkins is No. 39. The other two players are unranked.
The Kings will be hosting six players for a workout on Friday, the team announced (Twitter link via Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee). The six are Ryan Nembhard of Gonzaga, Curtis Jones of Iowa State, Koby Brea of Kentucky, Kadary Richmond of, Norchad Omier of Baylor, and Vladislav Goldin of Michigan. All six prospects appear on ESPN’s board, ranging from No. 47 (Brea) to No. 95 (Omier). Sacramento currently only controls the 42nd pick, but is rumored to be interested in moving into the first round.
Big man Johni Broome, the 40th-ranked prospect on ESPN’s list, had a workout with the Warriors today, tweets Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. The former Auburn star said he has previously worked out for the Clippers, Pistons, Hawks, Nets, Raptors and Celtics, and has upcoming workouts scheduled with the Thunder, Timberwolves and Suns, according to Rankin. Golden State controls the 41st pick.

2025 NBA Offseason Preview: Los Angeles Clippers

June 9th, 2025 at 7:54pm CST by Luke Adams

The summer of 2024 represented the end of an era for the Clippers. Nearly five years after Kawhi Leonard committed to the Clippers as a free agent at the same time the team was finalizing a blockbuster trade for Paul George, the latter departed in free agency, accepting a four-year, maximum-salary contract offer from the Sixers that L.A. had been unwilling to match.

The version of the Clippers built around Leonard and George was a perennial championship threat when those two were on the court. However, that happened far less frequently than the organization had hoped, with one star or the other often sidelined due to an injury by the time the club was facing postseason elimination. During the five years the two L.A. natives spent together as Clippers, the team won just three playoff series -- and all of those victories came in 2020 and 2021.

So while the Clippers certainly weren't happy to see George walk for nothing in free agency last offseason, it did generate some new opportunities for a team that had spent the last four years operating in luxury tax territory and didn't have an NBA Finals appearance to show for it.

Getting George's contract off the books and getting out of tax apron territory opened up more roster-building avenues for the Clippers and allowed them to spread out some of the money they'd earmarked for George among several rotation players. The club brought in Derrick Jones using the mid-level exception, Nicolas Batum on the bi-annual exception, and Kris Dunn via sign-and-trade, creating the depth necessary to remain competitive during the first half of the season as Leonard recovered from a knee ailment.

Career years for Ivica Zubac and Norman Powell and an All-NBA performance by James Harden as the team's primary offensive engine fueled a strong season for the Clippers, who - even with Leonard limited to just 37 appearances - won more games in 2024/25 (50) than they did in four of their five years with George on the roster.

Unfortunately, L.A. drew a brutal first-round matchup against the Nuggets, who beat the Clips in seven games before going on to push the eventual Western champion Thunder to seven games in the next round. If the seeding had worked out a little differently and the Clippers had ended up on the opposite side of the bracket from the Nuggets and Thunder, would they have won a series or two? We'll never know for sure, but it's certainly possible. This was a good team without many obvious holes.

That's the good news for the Clippers entering the 2025 offseason. The bad news? Even with Harden and Leonard healthy for the postseason, it wasn't good enough to beat the best of the West, so the front office will have to find a way to make additional improvements this summer.

The Clippers' Offseason Plan

While Harden could decline his $36.4MM player option, become an unrestricted free agent, and sign with a new team, there has been absolutely no indication that's the direction he'll go this summer.

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Patty Mills Named University Of Hawai’i GM

June 9th, 2025 at 1:44pm CST by Luke Adams

Longtime NBA guard Patty Mills has been hired by the University of Hawai’i as the general manager of the men’s basketball program, according to a press release from the school.

It’s a newly created role, according to the press release, in which Mills will “support student-athlete mentorship and development, while contributing to key areas including recruiting, fundraising, and community engagement.”

A native of Australia, Mills didn’t play his college ball for the Rainbow Warriors, having instead attended Saint Mary’s from 2007-09. However, he has lived in Hawai’i during the offseason for the past decade and sponsored the 2022 North Shore Classic, a local four-team tournament that was won by the University of Hawai’i.

“I’m deeply honored to join the University of Hawai’i basketball program as the new general manager.” Mills said in a statement. “This role is not only a professional milestone, but a personal one as well. Despite being from different parts of the Pacific region, as someone from the Torres Strait Islands, I feel a strong cultural connection to Hawai’i—our communities share deep respect and spiritual connection to the land, sea and sky and the strength of family and tradition.”

Mills’ new job doesn’t necessarily mean he’s retiring as an NBA player. Today’s press release refers to him as a “current member” of the Clippers, and we’ve seen several other active NBA players take on roles with colleges in recent months, including Stephen Curry becoming the assistant GM at Davidson, Trae Young being named the assistant GM at Oklahoma, and Terance Mann joining Florida State as their assistant GM.

It’s unclear whether Mills’ new GM position will be more intensive than those AGM roles, but until he formally announces his retirement, it would be premature to assume he’s calling it a career, even if his on-court role has declined significantly in recent years. After averaging just 13.0 minutes per game in 32 appearances for Atlanta and Miami in 2023/24, the 16-year veteran saw action in 29 contests for the Jazz and Clippers this past season, averaging 3.8 points and 0.9 assists in 11.1 minutes per night.

Mills will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and will turn 37 in August.

Latest On Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal

June 6th, 2025 at 8:00am CST by Luke Adams

Kelly Iko of The Athletic reported earlier this week that the Suns have made multiple calls to the Rockets about Kevin Durant since the end of the season and have “gradually lowered” their asking price for the star forward during those discussions. However, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter links) strongly disputes those claims, referring to them as “beyond untrue.”

According to Gambadoro, the Suns haven’t spoken to the Rockets since February and had put a potential Durant trade on the back-burner while they hired a new general manager and head coach. Now that those tasks have been crossed off their offseason to-do list, they’ll begin having conversations with potential trade partners about Durant, Gambadoro adds.

During a TV appearance on Thursday (Twitter video link), ESPN’s Shams Charania reiterated – as he reported during the season – that there was some mutual interest between Durant and the Knicks prior to February’s trade deadline. According to Charania, New York made an offer for Durant at that time.

A deal involving Devin Booker‘s former Kentucky teammate Karl-Anthony Towns would probably be the simplest way for the Knicks to acquire Durant, since Towns and KD will have very similar cap figures next season. But Gambadoro said during Thursday’s Burns & Gambo show (Twitter video link) that he has heard the Suns don’t have interest in Towns and would prefer a return centered around OG Anunoby or Mikal Bridges if they were to make a trade with the Knicks.

Charania cited sources this week who said that Durant is expected to draw serious interest from approximately four to six teams this summer.

Charania has previously identified New York, Golden State, Minnesota, Houston, San Antonio, and Miami as clubs who expressed some level of interest prior to the trade deadline, though it’s not clear whether all of those teams would renew their interest during the offseason. During the Burns & Gambo clip linked above, Gambadoro also pointed to the Clippers as a team to watch for Durant.

Of course, Durant won’t be the Suns’ only big-name trade candidate to monitor in the coming weeks. Bradley Beal is also expected to be on the trade block, but will be far more difficult to move due to his salary (nearly $111MM over the next two years) relative to his production, as well as the fact that his contract contains a no-trade clause.

According to Gambadoro (Twitter links), the Suns don’t want to bring back Beal, but he may be prove to be unmovable this summer, as he was prior to the trade deadline. If that’s the case, the club is expected to explore the possibility of a buyout, but there’s no guarantee that the veteran guard would go for that idea.

If Beal can’t be traded or bought out, the Suns would have to keep him and try to rebuild his value, per Gambadoro (Twitter link), who notes that head coaching candidates during Phoenix’s interview process were asked how they’d use the three-time All-Star.

Chris Paul To Put Family First In Career Decisions

June 5th, 2025 at 11:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Appearing Thursday on The Pat McAfee Show (Twitter video link), Chris Paul stated that family concerns will shape the remainder of his NBA career. They will factor into how much longer the 40-year-old guard wants to continue playing as well as where he might sign this offseason.

“It’s with my family more than anything,” Paul said. “My son just turned 16. My daughter is 12. The past six seasons, I’ve lived without them. I go to San Antonio, Phoenix, Golden State — they were in Houston with me — Oklahoma City… I’ve been around a few teams, but I’ve been away from them the last six years. It’s a little different. That’s the conversation.”

Paul will be back on the free agent market after signing a one-year deal with the Spurs last summer. Brought in to help mentor Victor Wembanyama and San Antonio’s other young players, Paul proved he can still be productive on the court. He appeared in all 82 games, averaging 8.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 7.4 assists in 28 minutes per night with .427/.377/.924 shooting numbers.

A return to the Spurs might be unlikely considering they traded for De’Aaron Fox in February and appear ready to select Dylan Harper with the No. 2 pick in the draft. If Paul moves on, he figures to get plenty of interest from playoff contenders who are looking for a strong floor leader.

Paul’s family lives in Los Angeles, so a return to the Clippers could be in the cards. He spent six years with the organization, earning All-NBA honors five times and making it one of the NBA’s most exciting teams. Paul could also ponder teaming up with long-time friend LeBron James on the Lakers.

Paul didn’t sound ready for retirement in the interview with McAfee, as he said his body still feels good. Most likely, it will be a year-by-year decision to see how much longer he wants to keep playing.

“Well, I don’t think I want to play for a while,” Paul said. “I’m being honest with you — I want to be Dad. I still love to play. I was up in the gym at 6 am this morning. Yesterday, I was in the gym. Day before, I was in the gym. It’s crazy. You know, my daughter actually hoops now, so before I flew out here, I was in the gym with her for 20 minutes. With kids, sometimes you gotta do short sessions, so I was in 20 minutes doing ball handling with her, and it was priceless. You don’t get that time back.”

Paul also talked about projected No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, whom he’s worked out with in advance of the June 25 draft, according to Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal (subscription required). Paul was on a group chat with other San Antonio players during the lottery, and there was a lot of excitement as the Mavericks and Spurs had the final two envelopes.

“I’m in L.A. right now, and Cooper Flagg has been out there,” Paul said. “I’ve been in the gym with him a couple times and whatnot. He’s as real as advertised.”

Marc Stein previously identified Dallas as a possible landing spot for Paul, since the Mavs will be looking for backcourt help while Kyrie Irving recovers from his ACL tear.

Clippers Rumors: Harden, Powell, Offseason, Eubanks, Batum, More

June 4th, 2025 at 7:36am CST by Luke Adams

Clippers guard James Harden, who holds a $36.3MM player option for the 2025/26 season, is “trending toward” declining that option, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

As Scotto explains, both the Clippers and Harden have interest in continuing their relationship, so if the 35-year-old opts out, the expectation is that the two sides would work out a new deal. According to Scotto, there’s a “growing belief” that Harden’s next contract will put him on the same timeline as star forward Kawhi Leonard, whose deal runs through the 2026/27 season.

Here’s more on the Clippers:

Although Norman Powell will be extension-eligible this offseason and averaged a career-high 21.8 points per game in 2024/25, he isn’t considered a lock to sign a new contract with the Clippers in the coming months. As Scotto writes, Powell’s expiring $20.5MM contract could end up being useful as a salary-matching piece if Los Angeles makes a bigger trade at some point in ’25/26. The club also wants to maintain significant cap flexibility for the summer of 2027, Scotto reports. Currently, only center Ivica Zubac is owed guaranteed money beyond that point.
If the Clippers do pursue a deal for a high-priced star, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Derrick Jones are the other notable veterans whose contracts might come in handy for salary-matching, says Scotto. Bogdanovic will earn just over $16MM next season, while Jones will make $10MM.
If the Clippers don’t take a big swing this offseason, they’re expected to focus on adding another point guard, as well as a rim-protecting center to back up Zubac, according to Scotto, who notes that the club should have the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to shop with in free agency.
L.A. isn’t expected to retain center Drew Eubanks, who has a non-guaranteed $4.75MM salary for 2025/26, but the team is counting on Nicolas Batum to return, per Scotto. Batum holds a $4.9MM player option. It remains to be seen how much interest the Clippers will have in re-signing unrestricted free agents Amir Coffey and Ben Simmons, Scotto adds.

Pacific Notes: Holiday, Clips, Hayes, Knecht, Bronny, Kings

May 29th, 2025 at 5:03pm CST by Rory Maher

A recent report indicated that the Clippers are expected to show interest in Celtics guard Jrue Holiday this summer. In an appearance on The Garden Report podcast with Bobby Manning of CLNS (Twitter video link), Law Murray of The Athletic said he thinks L.A.’s interest in Holiday was overstated, pointing to his contract and James Harden‘s likely return as reasons why it might be unrealistic for the Clippers to pursue a Holiday trade.

“For what Jrue does well, you already have a player like that in Kris Dunn, who is going to make like $25 million less than Jrue (next season), who is younger than Jrue, who arguably is at least as athletic, right around around the same size,” Murray said. “And the key thing for me is the role. This doesn’t sound like something that would come from the Clippers’ side of things.”

As Murray noted, there’s a sizeable gap between Holiday’s ($32.4MM) and Dunn’s ($5.43MM) salaries for 2025/26 (and beyond). And while Holiday certainly has a more accomplished résumé than Dunn, he’s also nearly four years older (Holiday turns 35 in June, whereas Dunn turned 31 in March) and is coming off a down year in ’24/25.

Here are a few more notes from around the Pacific:

Jaxson Hayes‘ second season with the Lakers was more successful than his first, but it’s uncertain if he’ll return in ’25/26 following a disappointing playoff showing against Minnesota, writes Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group. The 25-year-old center will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and the Lakers are known to be looking for upgrades in the middle.
Lakers rookies Dalton Knecht and Bronny James each experienced “roller coaster” debut seasons in different ways, according to Price. Knecht, who had some big scoring outbursts early on in ’24/25, was sent to Charlotte in the Mark Williams deal, only to have the trade rescinded by Los Angeles due concerns over Williams’ medicals. “Anything can happen,” Knecht said during his end-of-season media availability. “Crazy year.”
As for James, he had a slow start to his rookie campaign, most of which was spent in the G League. But the late second-round pick played some his best basketball of the season toward the end of ’24/25, Price notes. “It’s a huge difference in my confidence,” the Lakers guard said. “The start of the year, I was under a lot of pressure. And it was getting to me a little bit. So just having those games like the Bucks game, just having those games in the G League, just built my confidence every day and proved to me I know what I can do and I’m ready to keep growing as a player.”
The Kings hosted a pre-draft workout with six prospects on Thursday, tweets James Ham of The Kings Beat. Brooks Barnhizer (Northwestern), Saint Thomas (USC), Jabri Abdur-Rahim (Providence), Stefan Todorovic (Pepperdine), Matt Cross (SMU) and Tyson Degenhart (Boise State) were the six participants. Abdur-Rahim, whose father Shareef Abdur-Rahim played in Sacramento, said Thursday’s workout was his first with an NBA team, but he has more scheduled in the coming weeks (Twitter video link via Sean Cunningham of NBC Sacramento). The Kings control the 42nd pick in next month’s draft.

Celtics Notes: Holiday, Luxury Tax, Draft, White, Trades

May 28th, 2025 at 10:54am CST by Dana Gauruder

With the Celtics looking to find ways to shave their luxury tax bill, the Clippers are expected to be among the teams to show interest in veteran point guard Jrue Holiday, Brian Robb of MassLive.com reports.

Holiday will likely have multiple suitors, but the Clippers’ front office has previously pursued Holiday, Robb notes — L.A. was outbid by Boston on the 2023 trade market. The Celtics shipped Malcolm Brogdon, Robert Williams and two future first- round picks to Portland for Holiday.

Holiday has three years and $104MM remaining on his contract. Robb notes that Bogdan Bogdanovic ($16MM) could be a crucial matching salary piece if the two sides pursue a deal.

Here’s more on the Celtics:

Taking their cue from the Pacers and Thunder, the Celtics need to get younger and cheaper talent, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe opines. In order for the Celtics to stay under the second apron, they need to have players on rookie contracts and — when the time comes — give them less-than-max rookie extensions. They need to hit on their two draft picks at No. 28 and 32 to help achieve that goal, Washburn notes.
Regarding their trade assets, Robb details how many future picks the Celtics hold. Boston has one first-rounder and two second-rounders next year but doesn’t have a second-rounder in 2027. Robb also notes the Celtics currently have no picks in 2029.
Yossi Gozlan of ThirdApron.com (Substack link) doesn’t see the club trading Jaylen Brown but believes the next 12 months could be the optimal window to move Derrick White, who is set to begin a four-year, $128MM extension. If White is retained, the club should be able to achieve its financial goals by trading Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and Sam Hauser, Gozlan writes.