NBA rumors: Suns hit with ‘no leverage' reality in Kevin Durant trade talks
The post NBA rumors: Suns hit with 'no leverage' reality in Kevin Durant trade talks appeared first on ClutchPoints.
The 2025 NBA Finals is nearing its conclusion, and in essence, so is the 2024-25 NBA season, but talks about the possible trade destination of Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant are already taking up so much space in the headlines. The future Basketball Hall of Famer has been linked to a number of teams, but so far, nothing serious has truly come out of it, as Durant remains in Phoenix's fold.
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What there is little to deny is the intent of the Suns to move the former NBA Most Valuable Player somewhere else. They tried to accomplish that before the 2025 NBA trade deadline last February, but ultimately kept him for the rest of the campaign. With the Suns failing to make the NBA Playoffs, their attention has shifted largely to restarting trade talks involving Durant, who have a short list of preferred landing spots. Phoenix will want a big return for the all-time great, but they may not have that much power on the negotiation table to demand such, per Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic.
Wrote Rankin: 'The Suns have 'no leverage' in part because of Durant's age and because he wants to start fresh elsewhere, league sources say. The idea of Kevin Durant returning to a team that entertained deals for him before the 2025 trade deadline isn't a pleasant one.'
Durant's list includes the Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat. The Spurs are rumored to be the 'specific team' that the 15-time NBA All-Star would want to get traded to, but San Antonio hasn't come up with a package enough for Phoenix to pull the trigger.
The former Texas Longhorns star, who will turn 37 years old in September, has a year left on the four-year $194.22 million contract extension he signed with the Brooklyn Nets in 2021, before Phoenix acquired him in 2023 via a blockbuster four-team trade that involved the Indiana Pacers and the Milwaukee Bucks.
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Durant is set to earn $54.7 million in the final year of his current deal, which will be for the 2025-26 season.
But wherever Durant lands, that team will have an aging but still very much dangerous offensive weapon that averaged at least 26.0 points per game in the last nine seasons (excluding 2019-20).
Related: Spurs rumors: Ex-San Antonio VP reveals major hold up in Kevin Durant trade
Related: NBA rumors: Shams claims Heat, Rockets 'a piece or 2 away' from Kevin Durant trade
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