Kevin Durant is looking for a new place to call home to finish off the last chapter of his career. Possible landing spots for Durant are starting to come into focus should the Phoenix Suns trade him, as they are expected to do, with the Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets his preferred destinations, according to ESPN.
Those are the three teams Durant would commit to for a longer term, according to the ESPN report Saturday night. He has one year remaining on his current deal he signed with the Brooklyn Nets and is scheduled to earn a whopping $54.7 million in 2025-26. The Suns have made it crystal clear to the six to eight seriously interested teams that they will make the best deal for the organization, even if it means ruffling the feathers of the 15-time All-Star Durant and trading to a team and city outside his preferred list, sources said.
The Minnesota Timberwolves, who made it to the Western Conference Finals, also are expected to be among the teams in the mix for a trade.
Durant, who turns 37 in September, played in 62 games with the Suns in the 2024-25 campaign. He has not lost a step, averaging 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.2 blocks, not far off of his career averages. He also shot 43.0 percent from 3-point range.
The Suns went 36-46 this season, ten games below .500 and finished in 11th place in the stacked Western Conference with the highest payroll in league history, leading to high-profile organizational changes that culminated in naming executive Brian Gregory as the new general manager and hiring Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Jordan Ott as their new coach, replacing Mike Budenholzer, who was fired after just one season.
Embed from Getty ImagesDurant arrived in ‘The Desert’, Phoenix in a February 2023 deadline trade, and his 26.8 points per game as a member of the franchise is the most in Suns history.
Selected to the All-NBA first team six times, Durant has appeared in 1,123 games with the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder (2007-16), Golden State Warriors (2016-19), Brooklyn Nets (2020-23) and Suns. He has career averages of 27.2 points, 7.0 rebounds. 4.4 assists and 1.1 blocks, shooting 39 percent from long distance.
Durant was nearly sent back to the place where he won two championships, Golden State at the February trade deadline before he nixed that all together and made it clear that he was not interested in a reunion and preferred to finish the season with the Suns. At the time, sources told ESPN that Durant was caught off guard by the Suns including him in any trade conversations. This time around, the sides are expected to work in concert on his next home.
The Durant talks appear to be picking up steam. He has stated emphatically where he wants to be. But unlike other stars on the move, it is far less clear if he will be able to get there. His expiring contract is not as detrimental as it might seem, and to some teams, it might even be looked at as an asset. If the Spurs, Rockets or Heat want to get their hands on Durant, they cannot just expect him to fall into their laps without them having to give up something significant. The Suns are going to make the best trade for themselves. They have no reason to bow at the feet of Durant, so if the market dictates a move somewhere else, there is a good chance that is where he winds up.
