In the latest update to the Kevin Durant sweepstakes, one notable insider has linked the Phoenix Suns forward to two possible teams.
Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns are looking for his next team. The Suns forward is virtually guaranteed to leave via a trade this offseason.
Earlier this week, Shams Charania revealed that the New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets, and San Antonio Spurs were among the interested teams.
The quality of packages each team can offer varies. So the Suns will likely have to entertain a bit of a bidding war to leverage the best possible return.
But according to one reliable NBA insider, the sweepstakes for Kevin Durant are now down to just two of the aforementioned teams.
An NBA insider who goes by Ary on X revealed that the final two teams that are battling it out to land Kevin Durant are the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Houston Rockets.
Ary has been on the money with previous reports in the past. So there must be some fire for the smoke that he is pointing to.
He had previously reported that the two sides were generating the most buzz, but the Spurs and Toronto Raptors were also outside options. It appears, according to his intel, that those two sides are out of the race.
The Timberwolves couldn’t trade for Durant at the deadline, but with the expiring contracts of Julius Randle, Naz Reid, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, that should open up some cap space for them.
As for the Rockets, they have long been considered the favorites, not just because of their depth and assets, but because the Suns want to retrieve their draft assets, which they gave up to land Durant.
Ary also reported that a trade could be finalized within the next week, as many in NBA circles expect a deal by then.
There is a reason both sides are making inroads to land Durant. The Timberwolves need a reliable co-star for Anthony Edwards.
But the truth is, their roster is very young, and they need a star with tangible championship experience as well.
In any potential deal, the Timberwolves will give up Rob Dillingham, even though they won’t love doing so. The same goes for Rudy Gobert, who is on an enormous contract that the Suns can eat up as they enter into a rebuild.
While the Rockets also need the experience that Durant brings, they can offer a better package to land the star. For starters, they can offer the Suns their own draft picks.
But more importantly, the Rockets have young players the Suns can develop while they rebuild. Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr. could be two options the Rockets consider when formalizing the trade.
It feels like we are in the endgame of the Kevin Durant saga. Keep your eyes peeled for which team wins the rights to land him. And stay tuned to NBA Analysis Network for up-to-the-minute coverage on all things basketball.
