Whether it’s false hope or brilliant planning, a certified trend among NBA front offices is waiting in the wings for another situation to go poorly, which is why we know everyone is ready by now to try to trade for Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant this summer.
The Suns’ unraveling over the last six months (and even last year) had every front office’s ears perked up, hunkering down together to see if this was the type of opportunity their franchise needed to take advantage of.
What we do know is they will be rebuffed on calls about Devin Booker. An ESPN piece in March featured owner Mat Ishbia calling it a “pivot and reload” around Booker, who Ishbia said with concrete certainty will not be traded.
That leaves Durant. He was nearly traded right before February’s deadline, with the reporting adding up to Phoenix and the Golden State Warriors agreeing to a deal, only for Durant’s disinterest in a reunion axing its completion.
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All indications are Durant will be on the move this summer. Following Monday’s news of head coach Mike Budenholzer being fired, Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro reported Durant will be traded this summer and that the Suns will work with him throughout the talks. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported Durant’s agent plans to travel to Phoenix to have discussions with the front office.
So who will be interested? Who should be interested? What could the Suns get back for Durant?
As far as previewing how this summer goes, a big point to understand is most of the fake trades you’re working out or theorizing aren’t possible right now with the Suns in the second apron.
Lots of the organizations below are in either the first or second apron as well. The reported interest in Phoenix waiving and stretching Bradley Beal could end up as a key factor in freeing up the flexibility for the Suns to get the type of Durant deal done that they want. So with that in mind and to avoid confusion, this is less of “here’s a fake trade!” and more the potential partners to monitor.
Remember, Durant holds a lot of the cards here, if not all of them. He is eligible for a two-year extension to sign with his new team. His commitment to that deal gives him leverage. Three years of Durant is worth more than one year of Durant. To be fair, that’s also what Jimmy Butler tried to do in forcing his way to the Valley, only to go to Golden State to accept the extension he didn’t initially want.
We will be tiering out these teams that could/should/would have a reason to trade for Durant by what they have to offer the Suns, while acknowledging a lot have enough at their disposal to at least earn a lengthy conversation on the phone. To state it clearly, this is not ranking the teams most likely to trade Durant, but an exercise to more accurately decipher who could be.
(And finally, in a disclaimer you will surely scroll by and becomes more necessary by the day, none of this is sourced reporting. It is merely speculation. OK, now go have your fun.)
The heavy hitters
Houston Rockets
Why they would be interested: The original vultures and the inspiration for this story. Adrian Wojnarowski’s reporting (from the Houston side) indicated the reasoning behind acquiring some of Phoenix’s draft capital in late June was an intention to have a leg up if Durant or Booker became available. The bargaining chip is strong, with Houston holding control over the Suns’ first-round pick in 2025, 2027 and 2029.
Houston’s young core also hasn’t quite blossomed into All-Stars, outside of Alperen Sengun. Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr. haven’t shown that is in their future despite where they were selected, while it’s too early to tell on rookie Reed Sheppard. We’ll see on Amen Thompson, one of the breakout players of this season that is the most likely of those four to join Sengun. He’s one of the five most fascinating guys to watch this postseason.
While the clear best way to build a championship team is through the draft and player development, you also can’t do it without stars. Houston doesn’t have a bonafide one yet and is an intriguing team to monitor these next couple of weeks. A short flameout could further prove that and inspire desperation.
For what it’s worth, there is conflicting reporting on Houston’s interest in Durant, but ESPN’s Shams Charania noted Houston as one of the teams with “mutual interest” in Durant.
What they have to offer: The draft picks lead the way. Houston will want to wait until the results of the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery on May 12 before entertaining any deal involving that selection, which has around a 17% chance to pick in the top-4 before it could slot in ninth or 10th. For the plan to retool around Booker, Phoenix needs to hit on draft picks ASAP. A late lottery pick would do wonders to those odds, with every first-rounder it owns at the moment likely to be in the 20s.
Green is the type of marquee talent that could serve as the featured player in a Durant deal. The No. 2 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, Green is dancing the line between whether he’s the next O.J. Mayo, Dion Waiters or Zach LaVine as a hyper-talented, score-first two-guard with all the tools to be elite that looks like he’s going to come up short of becoming that. Mayo and Waiters probably aren’t fair comparisons anymore, but LaVine feels right, and is someone who statistically has been sort of, well, elite this year. Catch Green over the right couple of months and he looks like a future All-NBA guy. Catch Green over the wrong couple of months and you’ll see why Houston might be OK with letting him go.
Houston’s got a handful of young talent to get itself across the finish line in negotiations. Smith and Sheppard are former No. 3 selections with marquee winning attributes. Tari Eason, affectionately known as one half of the “Terror Twins” with Thompson, seems gettable. All these guys block Cam Whitmore, who certainly has enough upside to be a very good player still. A sprinkle of one or two of those players, plus some of Phoenix’s first-round picks back and Green, is a good framework.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Why they would be interested: Oklahoma City maintains a respectable level of confidence in what it is building and how, from all indications, it would not be interested in a blockbuster trade that would create a seismic shift to its roster.
But what makes the Thunder so dangerous is that they don’t have to compromise that to land the majority of high-end players that would be available. And with the West firmly in their control, pushing themselves one tier higher than the one they currently reside alone in makes sense to consider.
They have a ridiculous amount of draft capital to pry away nearly anyone they want, and with a young roster that is about to get incredibly expensive, urgency to win now might be higher than you think. Look at what Minnesota did in this type of situation with Karl-Anthony Towns. Could that be on the horizon in a year or two for OKC, who already did this last summer because they didn’t want to pay Josh Giddey?
At the very least, they should employ due diligence. And a failure to make the NBA Finals after their dominant regular season would get the gears spinning on at least the thought process.
What they have to offer: If the Suns wanted to go pick heavy for a Durant return, this is the best trade partner. OKC has 10 first-round picks at its disposal, including several in the future from teams in situations trending downward like the 76ers, Clippers and Nuggets. That does not seem like Ishbia’s speed, though.
OKC also lacks the type of bloated salaries to make this deal function. Alex Caruso ($18 million) and Luguentz Dort ($17 million) both might have to be in a hypothetical deal to get the money to work, and those are guys that help make the Thunder who they are that also play the same position as Booker. Phoenix should be more interested in younger names like Cason Wallace and Nikola Topic but at a certain point that’s now asking the Thunder to give too much.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Why they would be interested: To be honest, I’m not sure why? Minnesota just traded Towns, theoretically at least, to extend its window. The long-term goals of that do not align with the short-term nature of a Durant deal. Anthony Edwards turns 24 in August and there are contract extensions coming for Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Naz Reid to go alongside Jaden McDaniels. Rudy Gobert was recently extended as well.
But as we’ve seen here locally, new owners get trigger happy, and Minnesota has finally concluded a dramatic strife over the franchise’s ownership. Windhorst reported Minnesota was actually the most aggressive team besides Golden State in trying to acquire Durant this past February. With that bit of news and the players that could be involved, the T-Wolves get bumped up to this top group.
What they have to offer: This has the potential as the strongest haul for a player-centric deal. Reid shows All-Star potential when he’s not forced to play alongside Gobert or Julius Randle, and Alexander-Walker is one of the most valuable guys in the league that averages single digits. There’s also recent draftees Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. that should interest the Suns as well.
Randle or McDaniels would have to be the salary filler. McDaniels makes more than he’s worth, as someone quite valuable to Minnesota, while Randle on an expiring (if he picks up his player option) should just be a no for a franchise trying to refresh its basketball identity. Minnesota’s interest surely revolved around one of those two guys holding most of the value in a trade.
That’s a roadblock, as is Minnesota being a second apron team, just like the Suns. It gets extremely complicated to make a trade work with two organizations in the second apron.
The sleepers
New York Knicks
Why they would be interested: Well, because they are the Knicks. Duh.
In a basketball sense, New York will hit a road block at some point in the postseason due to a lack of a secondary offensive gusto on the perimeter, where the likes of Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby have not been consistently aggressive enough. If Knicks fans were taking a shot each time they saw a postgame quote after the two of those guys had great nights with a teammate/coach saying “that’s the OG/Mikal we need every night,” they’d need medical attention.
It’s also illogical how a team coached by Tom Thibodeau with the defensive talent of Anunoby, Bridges and Josh Hart could be anything but at least good on that end. But the Knicks aren’t, which speaks to a roster not clicking. It can’t be all on Towns’ lack of ability as an anchor playing the 5.
Jalen Brunson, Towns, Anunoby and Hart are all under contract for three more seasons beyond this year, while Bridges is assumedly getting a contract extension this summer after what New York gave up to get him. So the Knicks have more cracks at this left.
But if New York starts getting antsy about how expensive the tax bill would get with Bridges on a new deal after not even making the conference finals, even after all it gave up to get him, whew boy.
What they have to offer: This is why the Knicks are so high up. Brunson is untouchable. It was five first-round picks for Bridges, so surely he would be too, but who knows. Maybe the Knicks would want to bail on the Towns experiment, which has not worked out defensively.
Even if those three are off the table, Anunoby or Hart as the do-it-all, high-motor glue piece to feature alongside Booker in all the areas the Suns were abhorrent at this season will be appealing to the Suns front office. Toss in Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson and that’s the type of 3-for-1, win-now move that Phoenix wants. Should it? No. The Suns should get some future assets as well. I do not run the Suns, though.
Dallas Mavericks
Why they would be interested: To not be the butt of every joke for the next decade and looked back on as making one of the greatest mistakes in the history of professional sports. Winning a championship is just about the only way the Luka Doncic trade doesn’t turn into that for Dallas, unless Doncic’s career takes an awful turn in the near future.
What they have to offer: Like New York, this is the win-now package of multiple good players to help balance out the roster for the present. Some combination of P.J. Washington, Daniel Gafford, Naji Marshall and Max Christie is that. Dereck Lively II is presumably untouchable and the Suns would be wise to avoid trading for the seven footer that just broke one of his ankles until it’s clear he can stay healthy afterward.
There’s an argument to be made that Dallas and New York should be moved up into the top group given what we can decode from what Ishbia told ESPN with the way he wants to retool.
San Antonio Spurs
Why they would be interested: Victor Wembanyama is ready to contend now and it’s just a matter of how the Spurs want to go about building the right team around him.
The De’Aaron Fox acquisition showed a desire to get this thing moving, and if the price is affordable enough, Durant would immediately get them in the conversation as the best team in the West that does not play in Oklahoma.
What they have to offer: To continue the comparisons with OKC, the Spurs’ main appeal is draft picks. They’ve still got six first-round picks, including two from Atlanta and a swap that are fairly enticing, plus 17 second-round picks.
The player haul is less enticing.
Fifth-year guard Devin Vassell would serve as the top player coming back, who is probably not as good as Green but has had a weird few years with his situation that make him one of the more difficult young players to evaluate across the league.
San Antonio’s probably not willing to let go of rookie Stephon Castle given his long-term fit as a defense-first playmaker, but Phoenix would be wise to hold firm on his inclusion in the deal given the lack of incentive elsewhere. From there, it would be whatever Phoenix prefers out of a bunch of meh former first-rounders like Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley.
Atlanta Hawks
Why they would be interested: Atlanta tried to find Trae Young a running mate before in Dejounte Murray and is playing well enough right now to be taken a lot more seriously if Durant arrived. The Hawks want to win now, because as previously covered, acquiring Murray cost them first-rounders in 2025 and 2027, as well as a swap with San Antonio in 2026.
What they have to offer: Atlanta is similar to Houston in that there’s a great trade package to be made here for a balance of picks and players.
Jalen Johnson is a stud, and maybe he’s becoming untouchable in Atlanta’s eyes after another jump from him this season, but that’s the type of talent (like Green) that has to be coming back for Durant if it’s not a pick-heavy haul. Dyson Daniels is having a breakout season as a premier defender and then there’s No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher. Atlanta probably shuts down any deal with one of those three guys in it.
Despite the picks in San Antonio’s possession, the Hawks have a few of their own from other teams, with a handful of tradable firsts. That includes the Los Angeles Lakers’ pick in this upcoming draft and a suddenly sneaky valuable 2027 first that is the lowest pick between New Orleans and Milwaukee.
The best of the rest
Memphis Grizzlies
Why they would be interested: The Grizzlies have seemingly been named as an organization involved in trade talks for almost every semi-notable guy moved in the last couple of years. They are never able to get it done but the idea of a star next to Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. would be of interest.
After firing Taylor Jenkins and dropping to the play-in tournament, a shakeup of this magnitude is normally what follows when you’re now five years into your rise and you’ve won just one playoff series.
What they have to offer: The ancillary pieces are there. Memphis has a few tradable first-round picks. Rookies Jaylen Wells and Zach Edey have popped this season. Ditto for 2021 first-round pick Santi Aldama, and while GG Jackson and Vince Williams Jr. both bring something to the table as modern wings.
But does Memphis have the marquee assets to push a deal over the top? Even for Durant, the best player coming back cannot be one of those five supporting cast members or a first-round pick that has low odds to land in the top-10. Desmond Bane is surely off limits. *whispers* … is Morant?
Miami Heat
Why they would be interested: Because they are the Heat and they never stop star hunting. They are currently stuck in mid purgatory and perhaps a different version of a rebuild is just to go for it with Durant and then blow it up after that.
What they have to offer: Did Tyler Herro just have too good of a year to be the centerpiece? Probably. After that, it’s the same hodgepodge every team dealing a star has politely said no to the last two years. That’s the grab-bag of Jamie Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic with some salaries filled by Terry Rozier or Duncan Robinson. Maybe the emergence of rookies Kel’el Ware and Pelle Larson makes a grouping more interesting.
We should mention them
— It was reported by The Athletic’s Sam Amick in mid-December that the Denver Nuggets were exploring every avenue possible to upgrade offensive talent. Without a tradable first-round pick, however, the Suns surely wouldn’t let Durant go for an uninspiring mix of players beyond Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.
— A team on the rise that might get a lil’ too excited and try to capitalize now is the Detroit Pistons. Cade Cunningham is now a All-NBA guy and it’s a freefall to locate the Pistons’ second-best player. They’ve got a mix of young players that are good right now and picks that would be worth looking into at the least.
— I’m just going to get ahead of this and say when the Los Angeles Lakers lose in the first round and it’s speculated how it should now fully be Doncic’s team, someone looking into a camera on a major network will propose a Durant for LeBron James swap. Beyond that, they are a half-decent hodgepodge team and still have tradable first-rounders left.
— Are the Sacramento Kings done screwing around or will they keep firing away with big deals and go after Durant? It would have to include one of DeMar DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis or Lavine.
— We will always give a shout to franchises with new owners and very expensive rosters, so here are the Boston Celtics.
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