Kevin Durant trade latest: Why Timberwolves should be considered dark-horse fit

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Kevin Durant has three teams on his list of preferred trade destinations, per league sources: San Antonio, Houston and Miami.

As the Phoenix Suns star waits to see where he’s dealt, with his situation capturing so much of the NBA’s spotlight even amid these wildly entertaining NBA Finals, that means only those three front offices can negotiate with the full confidence that the 36-year-old (who has one season left on his current contract) would be willing to sign an extension after he arrives. In turn, this Suns ownership and front office group that so desperately wants to maximize the return for Durant can rightfully push for more when it comes to those particular talks.

Everyone else is playing this card game with a much different hand. Or so it has seemed.

As so much of the focus remains on those three teams, with the Suns known to be coordinating their efforts with Durant and his longtime agent, Rich Kleiman, there’s a fascinating fourth team that could re-emerge as a real contender in the coming days: the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Suns have made it clear to Durant’s camp that they need to prioritize the best return for the team in a deal. What’s more, they appear focused on landing the kind of impact players who can help now as opposed to prioritizing draft picks. The Wolves would seem to have options available to offer, with Rudy Gobert or Julius Randle headlining a package that could give the Suns hopes of contending. With the offers from the Spurs, Rockets and Heat coming up short to this point, league sources say the Suns are still hopeful that Durant might warm to the Timberwolves possibility.

The Timberwolves do not want to make a seismic change to a roster that advanced to the Western Conference finals if Durant is not on board with the move, team sources said. The question now is whether there’s any chance of Durant coming around to the idea.

One need only look back a few months in NBA history to see how things can change dramatically within a few days.

Back in February, disgruntled then-Heat star Jimmy Butler initially made it known to the Golden State Warriors that he was not interested in signing a contract extension if he was traded to the Bay. Butler’s preference, ironically, was to play in Phoenix. But when it became obvious that the Suns were going to be unable to come up with an offer that enticed Miami, Butler pivoted and cleared the way for a move to Golden State, where he revived the flailing Warriors and helped lead them to the second round of the playoffs.

To this point, league and team sources said, the Spurs, Rockets and Heat have not come forward with offers for Durant compelling enough to get the Suns to bite, which means they will continue to look at the market for a deal that suits them.

As one rival executive put it, “Phoenix is trying to drum up better offers.”

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What we’re hearing about a possible Kevin Durant trade, and the obstacles that exist

The Rockets and Suns have had meaningful discussions about a deal, team sources said. Houston has a firm offer on the table but Phoenix, to this point, has been seriously underwhelmed by it. The Spurs, league sources say, have been conservative in their pursuit of Durant.

As for the Heat, who would surely love to pair Durant with Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, it remains to be seen if they have the sort of package, or incentive, to pull it off. A deal with Miami would likely include veterans like Duncan Robinson ($19.8 million next season) and Andrew Wiggins ($28.2 million), but it’s fair to question whether those types of players would truly make a difference in Phoenix.

Trading Durant, who will turn 37 before next season and who only has one year left on his deal, always figured to be complicated. We have seen other star trades take twists and turns before being completed which is why Minnesota needs to continue to be considered in these sweepstakes —especially if the Suns, after failing to find a middle ground that works for both sides, were to consider sending him somewhere he really doesn’t want to be in a “rental” capacity.

The Wolves had extensive discussions with the Suns on a KD trade before the trade deadline in February and renewed those talks over the last few weeks as it became clear Phoenix was ready to make a move. But there has been a material change between then and now, according to league sources.

In February, the Timberwolves negotiated with the Suns under the belief that Durant was open to coming to Minnesota. He and Anthony Edwards have great affection for one another. Durant and Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly both have deep roots in the Washington, D.C., area and have great familiarity with one another. Durant’s potential fit alongside Jaden McDaniels, whose perimeter defense is among the best in the league, would allow him to flourish offensively while carrying a more manageable defensive load than he has had with the Suns.

But amid their most recent round of talks with Phoenix, the Timberwolves were made aware that he prefers to play elsewhere — specifically, league sources say, the Spurs.

There are teams out there that, generally speaking, are willing to take a chance and make a move for a player even if said player expresses a reluctance to play in that particular market. The Toronto Raptors famously rolled the dice in the summer of 2018 when the San Antonio Spurs made Kawhi Leonard available via trade. Leonard had made it clear to the Raptors that he wanted to play elsewhere. But Toronto still made the move, sending face of the franchise DeMar DeRozan and other pieces to the Spurs, a deal that ultimately delivered the first NBA title to Toronto before Leonard left for the LA Clippers in free agency the following summer. Those Raptors, led by DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, had made the playoffs five consecutive years and advanced to the conference finals just once. The Timberwolves have had more success in a shorter time in a tougher conference.

The Timberwolves have typically valued a player’s preferences when considering making moves of this significance.

Case in point: One factor that loomed large in Connelly’s decision to make the trade for Gobert three years ago was a strong indication from Gobert that he was excited about playing in Minnesota. Connelly noted at the time of the trade that it wasn’t always easy to find players who wanted to be in Minnesota, and Gobert’s enthusiasm resonated with him as he negotiated with the Utah Jazz.

With frigid winters, an old arena and a thin resume of playoff success prior to the last couple years, the Wolves have long been a team that players around the league would look past. But there are signs that the times are changing in Minnesota.

The Timberwolves have a burgeoning superstar in Edwards, a top-notch front office led by Connelly, a strong coaching staff with head coach Chris Finch preparing for his fifth full season and a new ownership group preparing to take over that wants to be aggressive in changing the perception of the franchise. And now, unlike last year, they have clarity at the ownership level, with Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez set to go before the Board of Governors for final approval in the coming weeks.

Edwards is the unquestioned face of the franchise, with a dynamic personality that draws most of the spotlight in Minnesota. That would allow Durant to do what he has always said he prefers to do: focus on basketball.

Most importantly, the Wolves have risen to contender status in the Western Conference in recent seasons. They have made the playoffs four straight years and advanced to the conference finals in each of the past two seasons. Edwards and the Wolves swept KD’s Suns in the first round last season, so he has seen first hand what the team is capable of doing.

“When you have a guy like Ant who is growing and making that change and you can see him developing more and more, it makes guys want to come there, too,” Lakers star LeBron James said in May on his “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash.

The 23-year-old Edwards’ bravado shines through when he talks about his opponents. It’s rare that he will give any of his contemporaries public flowers. He sees that as an acknowledgement that they are better than he is, and that is a nonstarter in his eyes. The one player for which he has routinely made an exception is Durant. Edwards grew up idolizing KD’s scoring ability and his “I just want to hoop” mentality. The two were nearly inseparable during the Paris Olympics last summer.

When Edwards hit a shot over Durant and barked at him during their playoff series in 2024, he said, “That was probably one of the best feelings ever, of my whole life.

“I think everybody here knows that’s my favorite player of all time.”

The Timberwolves have a lot to offer Durant beyond his friendship with Edwards. They have an impressive young core of players that also includes McDaniels and, if he re-signs, Naz Reid. They have the 17th and 31st picks in the upcoming draft to add to that group of young talent in addition to Rob Dillingham, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Leonard Miller as promising prospects.

The Wolves would give Durant a great chance to be on a team that can come out of the West. His skills as a shot-creating forward would also be incredibly valued on a team that had to put too much of that weight on Edwards’ shoulders in consecutive 4-1 conference finals losses to the Dallas Mavericks in 2024 and Oklahoma City Thunder this season.

The Wolves could, presumably, also offer the Suns an attractive trade package for a team that does not want to tear down and rebuild. Minnesota could offer a combination of Randle, Gobert and Donte DiVincenzo as strong veterans to help the Suns remain competitive in the short term. Randle played a huge role in playoff wins over the Lakers and Warriors last month, and his situation is complicated by a player option that he holds on his contract for next season.

Parting with Gobert would be difficult given how important he is to Minnesota’s defense, so it is unclear if the Wolves would be willing to do that to land Durant, especially if the All-Star is coming unwillingly. Needing to address his contract is another complicating factor considering the Wolves traded Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks in the offseason to help balance their bloated cap sheet. They put together a deeper team that will dip below the second apron at the start of the new league year in July, so the Wolves would have to think long and hard about sacrificing some of the financial flexibility gained in that trade.

Maybe this will all play out similarly to the Butler saga that culminated in his move to Golden State.

Perhaps Durant will examine the landscape in front of him, see the Suns being unwilling to accept an offer from the Rockets, Heat or Spurs, and look at Minnesota in a different light. In the end, it might make a lot more sense than he thought.

Kelly Iko contributed reporting.

This news was originally published on this post .

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