It will likely be a couple more months before any offseason trades are completed, but the rumors surrounding Suns star Kevin Durant are already beginning to pick up steam now that Phoenix’s season is over.
Reporting earlier this week indicated that Durant’s manager Rich Kleiman planned to travel to Phoenix this week to talk to the Suns about the veteran forward’s future. On Wednesday, appearing on NBA Today (Twitter video link), ESPN’s Shams Charania made it clear that the Rockets could emerge as a serious suitor for Durant if they make an early postseason exit this spring.
“This is a Houston team we need to keep an eye on in this playoff run,” Charania said. “… There is going to be a level of mutual interest – there has been already – with them and Kevin Durant with the Suns. If they win a couple rounds, they might be good where they’re at. If you lose early, don’t win enough to where you want to, could you look at a guy like Kevin Durant once again this offseason? Monitor them.”
Reports throughout the 2024/25 season indicated that the Rockets weren’t looking to break up their young core and that if they did make a blockbuster deal, they’d be focused more on a younger star who better fit their timeline than a player like Durant, who will turn 37 this September. However, a first-round exit as the West’s No. 2 seed could alter the front office’s thinking on both counts.
Plugged-in Phoenix-based reporter John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter links) notes that he has been discussing the possibility of the Rockets pursuing Durant for weeks on his radio show and views Houston as one of the top three likely suitors for the Suns star, along with the Timberwolves and Knicks.
A deep playoff run for any of those three teams would probably diminish their appetite for major changes, according to Gambadoro, who adds that the Spurs and two or three other teams could also emerge as suitors.
Charania previously identified all four of those teams (Houston, Minnesota, New York, and San Antonio) and the Heat as clubs that had some level of mutual interest with Durant prior to February’s trade deadline. Golden State also pursued him at that time, but Durant wasn’t open to a reunion.
Houston is loaded with young players and draft assets, including a handful of Suns picks, putting the team in a favorable position to make a strong offer for Durant. In addition to controlling Phoenix’s 2025 first-rounder, which will almost certainly be in the top 10, the Rockets also own the Suns’ unprotected 2027 pick and will receive the two most favorable 2029 first-rounders out of their own, Dallas’, and Phoenix’s.
According to Gambadoro (via Twitter), it’s “very unlikely” that the Rockets would be willing to give up Phoenix’s 2025 lottery pick in any deal for Durant. However, it’s possible that those future Suns draft assets could be part of any discussions between the two teams.
While it remains to be seen where Durant will be playing next fall, it’s a safe bet it won’t be in Phoenix, per Gambadoro, who adds in another tweet that the former MVP is “gone for sure.”
Enough already. No one cares where he goes. We just know they will be worse for it and next year we’ll be reading about who will be dumb enough to try again.
This article was bought and paid for by his PR team.
@tuck
Since you used the word dumb, it would be dumb NOT to acquire KD. The failures in Phoenix weren’t his fault. He’s not responsible for giving Ball a max with a no- trade clause. Nor is it his fault for building a top heavy team that she up the majority of the ball with little draft picks to use. A smarter team that’s already a 40-50 win team might benefit greatly if they added KD.
Well, he did campaign for the Suns to obtain Beal.
The latest on KD is that he’s not a leader and a team cancer wherever he goes.
@Da
Absolute nonsense to call him a team cancer. You can’t be accused of being a non leader because you’re not vocal and a cancer at the same time. I’ve yet to hear of any reports of him being a bad actor in a clubhouse.
Really, a “team cancer”?! No, he’s a beloved teammate wherever he goes. Call a “beta” if you want, but nobody has ever called KD a bad teammate.
KD played for the team that drafted him for 9 years.
KD fit so well with the Warriors that they’ve tried to re-acquire him twice since then.
Until this season, KD’s teams had a winning record for FIFTEEN consecutive years. Only Tim Duncan has a longer streak.
WNBA?
Salary assumption
Durant $55m
Green $35m
Sengun $35m
VanVleet $35m
Total $160m
Brooks, Smith and other are traded
@Sil
why world they have to trade so many to match $55 mil?
Some place with Jimmy “the cancer” Butler. What a one-two punch!
How is Butler a cancer?
@Giants
He’s left every team he’s played for under bad circumstances? The latest with the Heat was all about money. He had a 1 year option for $50 mil and he was mad that Riley hadn’t posted him a max extension at age 36.
Do what’s best for you Kevin. Don’t worry about the haters
The problem with KD is that he’s always done exactly what he wants and is “best for him” and this come at the expense of a more stellar legacy. Right now, he does not go down as a 10 best players of all time even though he is. His legacy is beneath Curry, even though he was the best player on those teams.
By all means, KD go do KD…. But don’t you dare claim you’re unjustly disrespected. I’m sure “what’s best” for KD wasn’t to become a journeyman.
LeBron and Curry are barley top ten
@Booga
What has he done to tarnish his legacy?. Switch teams?. That’s a players right to do so. He didn’t demand to be traded from OKC or GSW. He left a a FA. He didn’t demand to be traded out of Phoenix. They have no choice to because they can’t convince Beal to waive his no trade clause and they have no cap space or trade capital. So other than Brooklyn, what are you blaming him for? He’s better than Curry and is the main reason Curry has 4 instead of just 2.
Curry has two without KD, KD has zero without Curry.
KD needed Curry more than Curry needed KD. Fact!
I’m not “blaming” him for anything other than tarnishing what should have been an all time great career by virtue of the fact that he’s a loser, relatively speaking of course. I’m well aware that he’s had a successful career in some respects, but is ultimately disappointing at best. He does not win… unless he plays with winners. He’s not to blame for that. It’s just who he is. It’s a question of character. It’s sad really.
@KnicksFanCavsFan
No one that knows basketball thinks KD is better than Curry, if winning is the key part of the criteria.
(Knowing how to lead a team to win championships is a skill that KD lacks).
I think ESPN has it backwards. if the Rockets lose in the first round then that is not a team that becomes a championship team with Kevin Durant. Taking a mediocre team and trading half your cap for Durant just creates a fancier mediocre team. That’s the same mistake the Suns made.
If the Rockets prove they can win playoff rounds without Kevin Durant then that’s where the Rockets FO should be pulling the trigger on aggressive upgrades.
This isn’t the Sixers or Mavs. Rockets management have already demonstrated patience and awareness for a few years.
^^^
He is not a winner outside the Warrior time which wasn’t his team. He was just another cog, Curry was the star, Draymond leader, Klay was a stopper and could go off before injury.
Dude is a Carmelo.
Good points, AncientOne. One thing we must still recognize: KD is one of the greatest 3+ teams-in-career players of all time – Brawny Sensation being at the top of this list. If I was running the HOF, I’d have a separate section for these players – Brawny, KD, Buckets, The Claw, The Beard, Kyrie, etc. – away from the 2-or-fewer-team players, who should be viewed by all as on a slightly higher tier. It’s just how it is, guys. Imagine if the 2-or-fewer-team players all decided it would look best for his respective “legacy” to show little loyalty and solicit himself to any and every team with a remote chance of competing for a title? These guys would be even MORE legendary! Right??
AncientOne, that’s really silly.
KD was without a doubt the Warriors’ best player in his 3 seasons there. No, Curry was not considered “the star” over KD during that time.
In the 2 Finals series that KD played, he was Finals MVP. Better than Steph, better than LeBron. On the biggest stage, KD won. There are 5 NBA players in history with more than 2 Finals MVP’s.
Only LeBron and Steph are bigger “winners” amongst active players than KD.
KD didn’t have that amount of pressure. Wasn’t his team, he is a great scorer but on Warriors the attention was still on Curry and Klay. Draymond was the playmaker. KD just had to make his shots.
Nonsense. You obviously didn’t watch the games.
@Ancient
It may but be his team but they are both superstars and if a team Durant focus on the guy with the career 50/38/89 guy with the highest career scoring record that also rebounds, dishes and is 7 inches higher then they works be fools. KD was the one averaging 50+/40+/90+ in the finals not Curry.
Ty Lue said his defensive schemes always aimed at Curry, not KD.
Even then, Curry performed well. As far as FMVPs are concerned, they were basically playing against eachother for that. It could have gone either way.
Ron, not even close, sorry
Curry averaged 27/8/9 in 2017 finals and 27/6/7 in 2018 finals. Those are solid numbers, not to mention the off ball stuff Curry does that does not show up on the box score.
And FMVP seems like a subjective award. Curry should have won in 2015.
@ Aristotle:
Steph led the WCF sweep over the Blazers with no KD.
And then it took Klay’s injury in the Finals to seal the Raptor’s ‘chip.
Lots of people overrate KD based on stats that were augnmented by Steph’s gravity, so you’re not alone.
@AncientOne
Correct. Acting like voted awards like FMVP prove anything is belied by the 2015 winner over Steph.
Remember when KD got open dunks because the cavs defenders were prioritizing defending Steph at the 3 pt line?
2x finals mvp. And daylight second I might add.
@Ancient
Curry and KD are both stats but let’s be clear and factual. The GSW never beat a healthy Cavs team without KD and I’m tired of ppl overlooking that. The first matchup was without Kyrie and Love. The second match-up had both and they best the 73 win GSW team. In his time with the GSWc in the finals he averaged something like 55+/46+/90+ no player has ever done that in the finals much less, twice. That’s the reason he was the finals mvp and to call him a cog is disrespectful. In at least 1 series in the finals, Curry shot 40% for the field vs Durant shooting all over 50%
I’ll agree with AncientOne once again here. Don’t get me wrong: I am FOREVER grateful to KD for his time in a Dubs uniform – and that 3 over LeBron in Game 3 of 2017 will always be among my favorite shots/moments in NBA history. But there’s something to be said about the mindset of an elite athlete who has the luxury of knowing he is in the company of another/other established/made men, as was the case with KD to Steph and Klay, and, before it, LeBron to DWade. Perhaps some of you are big KD or LeBron fans, and maybe you don’t like acknowledging honest criticisms/flaws about them, so you filter out what you want to hear and what you don’t want to hear. But seriously: can you for a moment try to imagine, after repeated failures to reach the mountaintop as the undisputed number 1 option on your indigenous team, what a relief it must be to know you are no longer the be-all end-all, and you can bask in the newfound freedom of picking and choosing your moments to shine? Do you honestly think if KD remained in an OKC uniform – with mostly the same roster as it was in the 2014-16 timeframe – that he would have the SAME confidence/killer instinct to breeze right into that 3-point attempt over LeBron if a similar scenario presented itself as it did with KD in a GSW uniform, 1x champion and member of a 73-win team Steph to one side of him, and 1x champion and member of a 73-win team Klay on his other side?? Cuz I sure don’t!
Injuries are a part of the game. Nobody has control over injuries. I can also say the Cavs got the necessary breaks in the 2016 finals to mount a comeback: Green suspension, Bogut injury, Curry MCL injury etc.
So Warriors wanted to win and added KD. Its not the fault of the Warriors that Cavs didn’t improve their roster. Enough with this with KD/without KD record. Lebron never won anything without star help. He would be ringless without Wade, Bosh, Kyrie, AD etc.
The four finals they played, Warriors won 3 times and Cavs won once. That is the reality and theres nothing you can do about it.
@KnicksFanCavsFan
A healthy Cavs team needed massive league interference to get the 20126 *title.
If I was OKC I would be all over this
Also trading for Harden, getting Westbrook (bench) and signing Ibaka back to the USA.
Nope, Presti has moved on. Not going to have KD kill another promising team at his big age.
Nope, Presti’s biggest mistakes to date are trading Harden (4m dispute) and the team falling apart. They won’t win anything without AS’s help. KD has killed teams just as much as all the other wink wink superstars have done. They all leave for greener grass now. James etc etc etc etc. KD carrying everyone
“A level of mutual interest”?
Lol, what a well calculated to mean nothing comment. Rockets are ahead of expectations on their rebuild and KD doesn’t fit their timeline. I don’t know why they’d want to give up a lot for KD and his huge $ owed for next season.
I could see the Sixers and Suns trying to swap bad contracts involving Beal, Durrant and/or George.
@bowser
They can’t move Beal because he had a no trade clause. Why would the Suns want George? He’s a worse version of KD. Same position, more money left on his deal, more likely to miss games and he’s not as good of a player. If anything they would want younger cheaper players and/or expiring contracts to free up cap space quickly.
The Rockets roster with another year of experience is better than getting KD and giving back those draft picks to phoenix. Jaylen Green is not a better player than Devin Booker, but he is more available than DB is. Don’t trade for him either. Trade young players for young stars in the future, not for an old player at the end of his prime right now. They finished 2nd in a crazy western conference. I think KD is a step back. Don’t do it.
I actually think a sleeper team is OKC. If they get bounced in the second round I could see them making a play.
Would be a hell of a redemption story, OKC has a ton of picks and some decent role players they could move
KD has never pushed a team over the top!
But Phoenix will find some sucker to take him on.
@DS1
He was the finals MVP twice? wtf do you mean? fun fact, the GSW have never beaten a healthy Cavs team with Kyrie and Love without KD.
Fun fact: Warriors are 3-1 against the Cabs in the finals.
Why do you keep yapping about without KD? Wasn’t KD on the team? Why should those wins be excluded? Keep crying about it.
Cavs*
> Wasn’t KD on the team? Why should those wins
> be excluded?
The “only because of KD” refrain from Cavs fans has rung continuously for the last 8 years. It seems to make sense to only them, even if the rest of the world doesn’t understand.
KFCF-
Some other facts:
– the Cavs beat the Warriors only 1 out of 4, and Warriors were heavily favored in every series.
– the 73-9 Warriors of 2016, without KD, were more heavily favored to win over Cavs than in any other Finals this century other than Pistons-Lakers and Mavs-Celtics.
Warriors starter Bogut was injured for entire Finals, Iguodala was partly unavailable, and Draymond got suspended.
There were 4 teams in the NBA West better than the Cavs that year.
KD made Warriors invincible, but they didn’t need him to own the Cavs.
He went to a championship level team and they won 2 more championships after he arrived.
He’s never taken a non championship team to win it all!
> He’s never taken a non championship team to win it
> all.
KD’s goal was to win as many championships as possible, not try to win 1 by himself. He succeeded.
His legacy of multiple chips and multiple Finals MVP’s will place him in the Top 15, maybe Top 12, players of all-time.
He’s behind LeBron, Steph, and Kobe this century, but nobody else.
Durant is still a wanted man, talent. But this shhh does get old. Can we wait till draft. Its playoff time
Switching places with Towns
So they buyout or waive and stretch Beal… Trade Durant… and Booker just continues to do him. Not sure any team wants to trade for that position as Ish believes.
His salary only opens up a few legitimate locations. Houston is definitely one of them.
Cleveland could be a dark horse. Same as the Clippers.
No way haha. They owe 17m to Nassir Little and Liddel. Beal at 110m. A GM should be fired if doing any of this
Nico trades AD, Christie and a 1st for KD.
The league’s teams are starved for difference makers, and they operate under a CBA that’s hostile to high end player movement. Is the situation so bad that an injury prone 36 year old version of one will inspire a superstar trade offers? I hope not, but I wouldn’t bet against it.
Clippers looks like the Best Team in terms of fit, but knowing KD he’ll Pick the most loaded squad, He feels entiteld to it anyway, so they’ll let him cherry Pick the Team He will ruin next… The coach better start packing his stuff, He will not survive KD.