With the NBA Draft less than two weeks away, the trade rumor mill is in full swing, with Kevin Durant at the heart of it. Here are some of the latest rumors.
Durant trade coming in “days?” Don’t be so sure.
Things are moving quickly on the Kevin Durant trade front, with a real sense in league circles that it will get done before — or at — the NBA draft on June 25. Friday, ESPN’s Shams Charania took that a step further on the Pat McAfee Show and said it could happen in the next few days
You know what really pisses off Adam Silver and the NBA league office? When a team makes a big trade that upstages the NBA Finals. The league has made a concerted effort in recent years to refocus games on the court, rather than on the rumor mill and trade speculation. If a Kevin Durant trade were to happen in the coming days, it would completely upstage the Oklahoma City vs. Indiana NBA Finals.
The smart money is on no trade coming together, or even being leaked, before the NBA Finals end. Which, if it goes seven games (a genuine possibility), would take us to three days before the 2025 NBA Draft.
Charania also said the focus now is on the Heat, Timberwolves and Rockets, while Durant would prefer to be traded to the Spurs or Rockets, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports. However, other teams want to be in the conversation, too…
Clippers interested in Kevin Durant
The expectation had been that the Clippers would extend James Harden this summer, re-sign Norman Powell, and essentially run it back with a 50-win team.
Instead, they may make a run at Kevin Durant, with ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps calling the Clippers a “team to watch” in the Durant sweepstakes. It’s an interesting idea: A Durant, Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Ivica Zubac core could be very interesting, if it can stay healthy.
It would take a third team (or more) to make the math work, but the Clippers could send depth to Phoenix in a trade offer centered around a sign-and-trade of Norman Powell, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and more, plus a first-round pick or two. We can assume that Harden, Leonard and Zubac are off-limits in a trade, but everyone else would be on the table.
That may not be the haul the Suns were hoping for, but the other teams thought in the running — the Timberwolves, Rockets, Spurs and Heat — are not making overwhelming offers either. Which brings us to…
What Phoenix wants for Durant vs. reality
Days after Mat Ishbia purchased the Phoenix Suns from Robert Sarver, the team made a bold move to acquire Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets. It gave up a lot to get the future Hall of Fame:
• Mikal Bridges
• Cam Johnson
• Jay Crowder
• Four first-round picks
• 2028 pick swap
The Suns want a package something close to that in return for Durant. I want to take a break from writing this story to drive my Maserati GranTurismo around town. Reality is going to disappoint both of us. ESPN’s Windhorst and Bontemps put it this way:
Multiple league sources said they were skeptical that the price for Durant in a trade would get to a place where Phoenix would be satisfied with it.
My expectation for the Suns’ return in a KD trade is a couple of rotation players to match salary (but nobody likely as good as Bridges), a young player with some potential, and one or two first-round picks (depending on how good they are perceived to be). We’ll see what comes out of this, but it is very likely a trade made before the draft or on draft night.
No Antetokounmpo trade talks
The latest update on the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade front is that there is no update. Antetokounmpo was focused on his trip to South America, slipping and falling all over courts there, and has not requested a trade.
The expectation in league circles now is that Antetokounmpo will not request a trade, which is why the focus of teams has shifted to Durant and others. Maybe that changes after Antetokounmpo surveys the fallout from a summer of trades and free agency, but more than likely Antetokounmpo is a Buck at the start of next season.
Pelicans trade up for Ace Bailey?
The Pelicans are not going to trade Zion Williamson this offseason, primarily because the return wouldn’t be nearly what they are seeking.
That doesn’t mean new head of basketball operations in the Big Easy, Joe Dumars, is looking to build around Zion long-term. There are a lot of rumors that he wants to move up in the draft, specifically to target Rutgers wing Ace Bailey. Kevin O’Connor lays it out at Yahoo Sports.
League sources continue to cite the Pelicans as a team aggressively looking to move up in the draft, with most front-office executives believing Bailey is the target of new general manager Joe Dumars. That’s why we’re mocking a trade here for this week’s mock, with Herb Jones and a low-value first in 2026 via the Pacers to move up four spots.
There is pushback from New Orleans that they would give up Herb Jones in a trade like this, which is the correct call — trading Jones could well be a Dyson Daniels kind of mistake. That said, whatever form the trade might take, the idea of Dumars trading up to get Bailey and taking a swing with the high-ceiling wing makes some sense.
Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro not available
The Miami Heat are looking to upgrade — this is not a tear-it-down-and-rebuild-it kind of franchise — but in doing so, both Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro are not available, reports Ira Winderman at the Sun Sentinel. That’s not a surprise to anyone, but it’s nice to have it on the record.
Could Chris Paul return to the Clippers?
In a recent appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, another future Hall of Famer, Chris Paul, talked about being away from his children and family, who live in Los Angeles, while he played in Oklahoma City, Phoenix, the Bay Area with Golden State, and then San Antonio.
“My son just turned 16. My daughter’s 12. The past six seasons I have lived without them. I’ve been away from them for the last six years. That’s the conversation. I wanna be dad.”
Nobody can blame him for wanting to come back to Los Angeles. While there is poetic justice in him coming to the Lakers so many years after David Stern shot down his trade there for “basketball reasons,” the Lakers aren’t hurting for ball handlers (although LeBron James and CP3 have always been close, so…). The Clippers need a backup point guard who can run the show when James Harden is off the court. Do we have a match? Just something to watch.
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