{"id":127915,"date":"2025-03-10T21:50:59","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T01:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=127915"},"modified":"2025-03-10T21:50:59","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T01:50:59","slug":"kevin-durant-trade-price-potential-suitors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/10\/kevin-durant-trade-price-potential-suitors\/","title":{"rendered":"What Kevin Durant’s Trade Price Says About Potential Suitors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant<\/a> is likely going to be among the next crop of stars traded in the offseason. Indeed, there are already several teams who have been mentioned by NBA insiders as potential suitors. There are others that have already made calls about him<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So, with the writing seemingly on the wall, the biggest question this summer may be which teams officially enter<\/a> the KD Sweepstakes. If so, the follow-up should be what it will take for a team to win the prize.<\/p>\n

What Kevin Durant’s Trade Price Says About Potential Suitors<\/h2>\n

At this juncture, “the most ideal return on a Durant trade is regaining three first-round picks<\/a> and a young player as part of a multi-team deal tied to getting under the second apron,” per The Republic’s Duane Rankin. This is partly because, as Rankin notes, the Suns “don\u2019t have any control of their first-round picks from now until 2032 and they can\u2019t currently trade their 2032 first-round selection due to being over the second apron.”<\/p>\n

Hamstrung by the second apron in more ways than one, Phoenix’s choices clearly are directly affected by the CBA. Thus, the Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, and Minnesota Timberwolves probably aren’t the most feasible<\/a> destinations for Durant. That being said, there are still multiple teams that make sense as suitors if the Suns are determined to acquire a package that features first-rounders and an emerging player.<\/p>\n

The ‘Known’ Suitors<\/h2>\n

Among the teams that have already been linked to Durant, the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs could make a particularly strong offer. Both the Rockets and the Spurs have several tradeable first-round picks at their disposal. San Antonio’s stockpile did<\/em> get a bit thinner after their trade for De’Aaron Fox<\/a>. Nonetheless, they’re still sitting pretty after shipping out DeMar DeRozan<\/a>, Dejounte Murray<\/a>, and Derrick White<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Houston Rockets<\/h3>\n

In a trade with Houston, Phoenix would likely prioritize two-way playmaker Amen Thompson<\/a> given their team needs and their interest in Miami Heat<\/del> Golden State Warriors forward Reed Sheppard<\/a>. Frankly, Green’s strengths and weaknesses might overlap with Devin Booker<\/a> and Bradley Beal<\/a>‘s a little too much. Yet, he’s arguably the most talented player on the team.<\/p>\n

San Antonio Spurs<\/h3>\n

In a trade with the Spurs, the Suns could put Devin Vassell<\/a> in their crosshairs. Prior to their trade for Fox, the Florida State product was considered San Antonio’s second-best player behind Victor Wembanyama<\/a>. Of course, Wembanyama will be off-limits in these discussions. Nevertheless, Vassell’s capable of playing a 3-and-D role that would make him a comfortable fit alongside Booker and Beal. Stephon Castle<\/a> and Jeremy Sochan<\/a> also make sense for Phoenix from a need standpoint. Though their Big 3 is a more popular topic, improving their defense would go a long way.<\/p>\n

The Unknowns<\/h2>\n

Again, there are actually quite a few franchises with a cupboard full of first-round picks.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for the Suns, many of them aren’t contenders. To that point, though Durant doesn’t have a no-trade clause, he will be on the final year of his contract. As a result, the team that trades for him will need to know he’s committed to them. As an all-time great that’s still playing at an elite level, it’s hard to imagine him wanting to play for the Charlotte Hornets, Brooklyn Nets, Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz, or the Washington Wizards for the next few years.<\/p>\n

However, he could be intrigued by the possibility of joining the Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, or Toronto Raptors.<\/p>\n

Oklahoma City Thunder<\/h3>\n

Among the NBA’s young teams, the Thunder are the cream of the crop. Though there might be hard feelings from Durant’s decision to leave OKC for the Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James<\/a> –who has had two stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers –has shown that fans could welcome him back with open arms. Oklahoma City would probably have to part ways with Chet Holmgren<\/a> or Jalen Williams<\/a> though.<\/p>\n

Orlando Magic<\/h3>\n

The Magic are in position to make the playoffs for the second straight year. Unfortunately for them, though their defense is formidable, their offense can be terrifying (and not for their opponent). This is largely because of their backcourt’s scoring deficiencies but their inefficient shooting beyond the arc is problematic as well. Trading for Durant could require them to move Franz Wagner<\/a>, but the difference in their outside shooting could make a huge difference.<\/p>\n

Toronto Raptors<\/h3>\n

Who knows who would love for the Raptors to land Durant more between the franchise and rapper\/artist Drake<\/a>. In any case, this is a possibility worth monitoring. Already, Toronto has considered trading RJ Barrett<\/a>, though he’s only evolved since they acquired him<\/a>. With Durant alongside Brandon Ingram<\/a> and Scottie Barnes<\/a>, the Raptors would probably have their best perimeter group since Hall of Famers Tracy McGrady<\/a> and Vince Carter<\/a> were on the roster.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a9 Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant is likely going to be among the next crop of stars traded in the offseason. Indeed, there are already several teams who have been mentioned by NBA insiders as potential suitors. There are others that have already made calls about him. So, with the writing seemingly on the wall, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":127920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,1608,30,31,26,21,62,22,17,34,14,4721],"tags":[311,4292,352,2806,4127,3256,4609,69,4774,1964,49264],"class_list":["post-127915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-suns","category-basketball","category-mavericks","category-rockets","category-lakers","category-timberwolves","category-nba","category-thunder","category-magic","category-spurs","category-raptors","category-trade-rumors","tag-bradley-beal","tag-chet-holmgren","tag-devin-booker","tag-devin-vassell","tag-franz-wagner","tag-jalen-green","tag-jalen-williams","tag-kevin-durant","tag-rumors","tag-rj-barrett","tag-stephon-castle"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127915"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":127923,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127915\/revisions\/127923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}