Asked on Wednesday during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show (Twitter video link) about possible offseason trade destinations for Kevin Durant, ESPN’s Shams Charania said there was mutual interest between the Suns‘ star and a handful of potential suitors ahead of February’s trade deadline. According to Charania, that list of teams included the Timberwolves, Knicks, Rockets, Spurs, and Heat.
“Those are the types of teams, from my understanding, that had interest then,” Charania said. “And I expect them all to be in the mix this offseason.”
Charania didn’t explicitly mention the Warriors, but that’s likely due to the fact that Durant was known to be resistant to a Golden State reunion in February. If his stance changes this summer, it’s possible the Warriors could once again emerge as a suitor.
One report this week suggested that Durant is open to the idea of returning to Phoenix next season, but a trade still appears to be the most likely outcome. Unlike in February when the Suns unilaterally gauged the market for the veteran forward without consulting him, the team and Durant’s camp would likely work together on any deal this offseason, Charania notes.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- The NBA is looking into an incident from Tuesday’s Warriors/Grizzlies game when Golden State sharpshooter Buddy Hield and Memphis guard Ja Morant aimed finger-gun gestures at one another, according to Charania and Tim MacMahon of ESPN. A video of that brief interaction can be found here (via Twitter). The NBA has fined players for that gesture in the past and is likely especially sensitive to this case since Morant has been suspended twice in the past for waving around an actual gun in social media videos.
- Stephen Curry racked up 52 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, and five steals in the Warriors‘ win over Memphis on Tuesday and told reporters after the game that he feels rejuvenated after taking a week off to recover from a pelvic injury in March, per ESPN. “I feel in a good rhythm,” Curry said. “The week off helped. The tank is pretty full.” Steve Kerr said a couple weeks ago that he wanted to get Curry some rest, but the Warriors coach no longer seems as concerned about his star guard’s condition. “I think (the week off) helped and I think two rounds of golf on this road trip helped,” Kerr said, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
- After missing the first two-plus months of the season while recovering from a knee procedure and then playing on a minutes limit for several more weeks after that, Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard has recaptured his All-NBA form, having averaged 25.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.8 steals per game with a .521/.397/.825 shooting line in 13 March outings. Law Murray of The Athletic takes a look at Leonard’s resurgence and the 33-year-old’s desire to enter the offseason healthy.
I would love to see Durant traded to the knicks. It is a rare opportunity to destroy 2 NBA teams in the same city.
lol. could see mikal bridges back in Phoenix feeling like he’s woken up in an episode of severance.
@Just
They have their version of Durant in KAT and while I think Durant is a bit better he’s also older and princely a little more expensive. I think it would year the team apart because of salary matching purposes.
@justkidding LOL
Such a bad look for Ja
Steph Curry always comes back and has big games when taking some time off during the spring.
Hope this carries over into the playoffs.
They should def sit him on one of the games in that back to back coming up … either vs DEN/LAL and maybe a future game vs PHX, SA or POR. He just looked so much fresher after his week off.
Can’t do that with so many teams bunched up trying to avoid the play-in.
If anything Kerr should be unloading the chamber and playing Steph, Jimmy and Dray 40+ minutes or until the lead is 25+ for all these last 8 or so games.
I know it’s unliked by most but the approach the clippers took with Kawhi has been great.
He’s injury prone and getting old, the only thing that matters is making the playoffs and then the post season.
So they sit him for the first couple months, slowly work him back, don’t have him play back to backs and by the end of the season he’s fully up to speed and ready to go.
They are comfortably sitting 8th with 6.5 games on the Mavs and only 3 games off the lakers in 4th.
Lots of teams and players should be using this approach. No need to hit peak form in December only to be ruined now.
Yeah that’s right..every team should sit their better players for the first half of the season…and then rest them on back to backs…what a great league this has turned into… I am talking about just resting…not for people coming back from serious injuries…sick of players sitting out
@Gusk
Kawhi and Embiid are a special case. I don’t think any other team would go to that extreme.
They didn’t sit Kawhi, he was rehabbing.
Some of these pieces – there is ZERO chance the Spurs considered trading for KD.
@tuck
Why is that ridiculous? Wemby made it clear he wants the team to make an effort to compete?
They would have to gut the team even more than they have. KD will be pushing 40 soon. Only the Warriors make sense.
Question: If the Cavs fall short of a chip but go to the ECF would you consider a Garland and a pick for Durant straight up? They might them move Ty James to the starting point spot. Who says no first?
Steph Curry is the best player any of us have ever seen. Stop the lies about Lebron.
Nice to see that the Curry fella is FINALLY doing SOMETHING on the Court.
Maybe the Timberpuppies should have drafted him instead of Jonny Flynn !!