Kevin Durant could be joining his fifth franchise by the end of the weekend, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, who reported Friday on “The Pat McAfee Show” that the Miami Heat, Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves are submitting their final offers for the Phoenix Suns star forward.
Charania reported Wednesday that the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks had also expressed interest in Durant. However, on Friday, Charania told McAfee and Co. that the focus of the Suns’ conversation in the last 24-48 hours has been on the Heat, Rockets and Timberwolves.
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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.
While on with McAfee, Charania pointed out that there could be a team — either among the Heat, Rockets or Timberwolves, or a wild-card team — that bets on itself, regardless of whether there’s mutual long-term interest from Durant. 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.
“Will there be a team,” Charania proposed, “that just takes a swing and just banks on themselves and hope that they can potentially make a deep run and keep him there?
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“But that’s going to be the big question.”
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.
