While there is mutual interest between the San Antonio Spurs and Kevin Durant, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Spurs “have not been the aggressive team” in trade talks for the Phoenix Suns forward, Charania reported Tuesday on “The Pat McaFee Show.”
Charania first reiterated his report from the weekend: Durant’s three preferred destinations are the Spurs, the Houston Rockets and the Miami Heat.
The Spurs, however, aren’t on the same timeline as the Rockets and Heat, said Charania, who believes those two suitors are more realistic landing spots for Durant than San Antonio at the moment.
“I think they’re really going to be stocking their assets for potentially a bigger move, bigger player, someone that may fit their timeline,” Charania said Tuesday of the Spurs, via the “McAfee Show.”
“But the Spurs have had a level of interest. Would I say that they’re among the leaders right now? … No, I wouldn’t.”
Charania pointed out that the Spurs have quite a bit of team-building flexibility this offseason. They’re well-positioned with a potentially generational center in Victor Wembanyama, plus a one-time All-Star and still-27-year-old guard in De’Aaron Fox. Additionally, they have this year’s NBA Rookie of the Year, guard Stephon Castle. And San Antonio is equipped the No. 2 and No. 14 picks in this year’s draft.
The Spurs haven’t made the playoffs since 2019, but they have one of the brightest futures in the league right now, with legendary head coach Gregg Popovich now serving as president of basketball operations and longtime assistant-turned-interim coach Mitch Johnson filling his big shoes. Together, with general manager Brian Wright, San Antonio hopes to replicate its longstanding success from the 2000s to the mid-2010s.
“They want to have a similar run and be set up similarly to [former Spurs general manager and current team CEO] R. C. Buford and Gregg Popovich,” Charania said on the “McAfee Show.” “And, in their minds, they have a ton of assets to where, if there’s a guy that becomes available that’s on that timeline, potentially you go out and make that deal. That’s not to say that they don’t have interest in Kevin Durant. They do. And potentially they would make an offer, and I’m sure they have discussed different frameworks, but what the other teams are offering is just a little bit more aggressive.”
Charania mentioned that, even though Minnesota isn’t on Durant’s list of preferred destinations, the Timberwolves are still a wild-card team to consider. He explained that Minnesota wouldn’t be the first team to trade for a player who didn’t want to play for them. Charania compared that potential scenario to the Toronto Raptors trading for Kawhi Leonard in the summer of 2018. The Raptors won an NBA championship in 2019, but Leonard still signed with the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency.
“Honestly, every day that goes by, I think it’s more likely that, if [the Timberwolves are] involved here, it’s going to be seeking out multi-team trade scenarios — three-, four-team deals, whether they get Kevin Durant or whether they’re just involved in a deal that’s facilitating that,” Charania said Tuesday on the “McAfee Show.”
“But Minnesota is still very much engaged and active in these conversations.”
Durant, who has spent two full seasons with the Suns, is on an expiring contract worth $54.7 million for the 2025-26 season. After he’s traded, on July 6, he’ll be eligible to sign a two-year extension worth up to $122 million. If Durant decides to wait six months after the trade, though, that extension could be worth as much as $124 million, per Charania.
The Golden State Warriors almost acquired Durant at this season’s trade deadline. Instead, Durant established that he didn’t want a second act in the Bay Area and would rather stay with the Suns for the rest of the 2024-25 campaign.
Durant will turn 37 in September. The 15-time NBA All-Star has previously played for the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder (2007-16), the Warriors (2016-19) and the Brooklyn Nets (2019-23).
This season, he averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game in 62 appearances. The Suns, despite the highest payroll in league history, finished 36-46 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019-20.
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