ESPN reveals latest on NBA BLOCKBUSTER trade: Kevin Durant has been traded to the San Antonio Spurs

ESPN reveals latest on NBA BLOCKBUSTER trade: Kevin Durant has been traded to the San Antonio Spurs

top end the the highlight was the late follow-up jam that he had like they just were all I could list the entire roster and they were all great last night in their home victory going into a game four Friday night 8:30 p.m eastern here on ESPN radio uh amidst all of that the Knicks coaching stuff search stuff excuse me we also had news yesterday from Sham Shirana senior NBA insider about Kevin Durant and that the Suns and Kevin Durant’s business partner boardroom CEO Rich Kimman who was uh scheduled to be on with us today believe it or not he may have some other things going on that maybe being on the record right now uh would not have been the best idea for the KD camp we would have taken it we would have been happy for him to be on the record but he’s probably not going to put his client and his business partner in the best position um but hopefully he will be on with us soon so I wasn’t going to even ask him about KD i was going to try to figure out how we can get an invite to the White Party for uh next month that’s what I’m trying to do yeah he’s very connected i’m trying to get an invite to the White Party and he’s very connected to Michael Rubin of Fanatics yeah maybe that’s the back door that you get we walk through to get into that party the Hampton yeah that’s what I was trying That’s what I was trying to angle for that’s a really good plan hey come on join us on the show we won’t ask you any of the tough questions as long as we get the invite to the white party that’s it that’s all we want that’s all we’re looking for if that was an option I agree with that option i don’t by the way I don’t I mean come on um so the teams that have been mentioned in coordination with the Durant destination Persams Houston Rockets San Antonio Spurs Miami Heat Minnesota Timberwolves and the New York Knicks shams also said several wildcard suitors have made inquiries on Durant in the past seven to 10 days now before we dive into this let’s take a listen to what Brian Winhorse the SPNA Insider Hoop Collective podcast had to say about what the Suns are looking for in the inevitable Kevin Durant trade the most important thing that Shams put in his report there was that those Suns are working with Rich Klyman his business manager on this when they attempted to trade him at the trade deadline they did not work with him and it came as a surprise to Kevin Durant and Durant made it very clear he was unhappy with that and it ended up undercutting the trade and the reason Durant’s in the opinion matters here is he’s only got one year left on his contract what I am not sure of guys is how robust the offers are going to be from what I am told the Suns are looking for a comparable package for what they traded Kevin Durant which is impact players and multiple draft draft assets i’m not sure they’re going to be able to generate that because Durant is a couple years older and his contract is shorter so that’s going to be something where they’re going to watch in the next couple of weeks yeah um you said hold on they said a package comparable to what they traded for Durant do Do you know what they traded for KD they traded Muel Bridges they traded Cam Johnson and they traded four unprotected first round picks and a 2028 first round pick swap there’s no chance that any team is giving them anything remotely close to what they traded for Kevin Durant no shot no they are delusional they are in La La Land put them in a padded room somewhere if that’s what they think they’re going to get there’s no chance and Kevin Durant Smalls wouldn’t even want them like his incoming team to give up that no no incoming team is going to give up that much but at this point in his career why would Kevin Durant want the incoming team to do that cuz he wants to win a title somewhere exactly why is he going to go somewhere that’s going to have to deplete their reserves in order to acquire him and put themselves in a position where they can’t compete for a championship makes no sense and I’m with you i guess like we like Evan was praising the Knicks on casting a wide net and shooting your shot good for Phoenix for trying to shoot their shot and fire as much as they can for Durant but it’s not going to happen yeah it’s not going to happen and then on top of that the extra layer of complication is that Kevin Durant is 37 years old and he’s going to need a contract extension sooner rather than later what does that look like you know especially considering the compensation that’s going to have to go back to Phoenix in order to get him so yeah the trade package is not going to get remotely close the question is what is the acquiring team going to have to give up and are they still a contender on the other side of it now when it comes to a couple of those teams Houston and San Antonio to me it’s no-brainers they have so many different trade pieces so many different assets that there’s no doubt that even with acquiring KD they’ll still be a contending team the other two teams the Minnesota Timberwolves and the New York Knicks I don’t know and and that’s probably what’s most fascinating about this because those are the two teams from a timeline standpoint that are closer to being able to get this done right when you look at Kevin Durant’s age versus the Kors of Houston and San Antonio the timeline doesn’t necessarily match up but when you look at the Wolves when you look at the Knicks it feels like they need that player to take them over the top especially with New York because we’ve questioned whether or not their best player can be the best player on a championship winning team there’s no question about that if Kevin Durant is on the New York Knicks absolutely you know as the best player on the team he can win a championship he did it twice he’s got two finals MVPs to show so I think this is absolutely going to be fascinating in terms of where Kevin Durant lands i know everybody is focused on Giannis and rightfully so cuz Giannis at this point is the better player but but KD could shift the balance of power in the NBA especially if he ends up in the Eastern Conference yeah there’s not a doubt that what you just said is correct relative to everyone’s focused on Giannis the one who’s going to get traded definitively is Kevin Durant like and so Giannis may get traded maybe he doesn’t get traded maybe get traded now maybe get traded later maybe he never gets traded right kevin Durant there’s not a single reporter we have and we have great reporters at ESPN that are is talking in a gray area of hypotheticals and may with this every reporter we have rightfully so is talking in that gray area maybe and hypotheticals with Giannis everyone has said Kevin Durant is getting traded you know you left out one team there cece Smalls did you notice that CC went oh well Houston and San Antonio New York and Minnesota there’s one other team there i’m just saying i mean Miami I think is actually going to be the team that’s going to be willing to give up the most for him because they’re the team that’s the most desperate of that crew right if you if you think about that group of teams Minnesota is a championshipish contender right now right as is New York was in the we’re in the conference finals we consider and debate and we’re not debating with each other because we all agree on this like they’re not a championship team but they’re in the conference finals but they’re also desperate they just fired their coach they are desperate that’s interesting go there i didn’t look at them that way you don’t think the the Knicks are desperate Evan they’re telling you how desperate they are by firing Tom Tibido and calling any good coach in the league and saying “You up what’s good?” I I mean it feels like the Knicks are on Tinder they they they on Bumble they got Match.com Farmers Only they are just swiping through profiles the Knicks on Farmers Only they are going through all of the profiles trying to figure out who’s going to say yes to they’re doing the tact where they’re saying yes to everyone and they’re seeing who comes back see who comes back man desperate swipe swipe right on everybody we’ll sort it out after the fact and that doesn’t say say desperate to you Evan we’re even having Farmers Only in the mix here all right well I guess desperate is you don’t have to be lonely in your coaching search think about this if you if let’s just say every one of those five teams runs it back for the next two years only one of them has no shot of getting to the conference finals and that’s Miami right all five of those teams New York Miami Houston San Antonio Minnesota all five of them say next two years we’re making no moves we’re going to resign our own guys only one of them does not have a shot of getting to the conference finals and that would be Miami so my thought is Miami would be willing to give up the most to get him mhm and I do wonder this is Kevin Durant going to make a decision for the rest of his life or the rest of his basketball career and I ask it that way because if you’re making a decision for the rest of your basketball career you would have accepted the trade to Golden State he did not right and and he could spin it and I love Kevin Durant as well it was in season i didn’t want to go in season understood but now it’s not in season and Golden State is not mentioned here right so I wonder if this is a rest of his life move like does he want to live in New York the rest of his life does he want to live in Miami does he want to live back in Texas the rest of his life does he want to live in Minnesota the rest of his life and not that you can’t own multiple places when you’re a millionaire that’s not my point my point is CC Smalls always talks about a a sports home for a player kevin Durant is a nomad right now i actually think this next move he makes may be his best chance at a long-term sports home that’s a great point that is that’s a great point and also if you think about Kevin Durant and you think about maybe where his head’s at the Golden State piece is interesting to me because the knock on Kevin Durant was that he had to join this team that was already established in order to win people somehow still want to put an asterisk on that because he joined Steph Dre etc even though he was finals MVP and was amazing there yeah if you were to put Kevin Durant on a team like San Antonio or Houston a team that has a lot of youth and he’s that veteran guy who’s been there done that can come in be the best player on that team at times assert himself in that way help these young players get to that next level and he wins there and there’s no question about it that without him they wouldn’t have been able to get it done that’s a legacy definer in a different way as well can I say this though to Evans’s point about Sports Home no championship that Kevin Durant could win would mean more than the championship that he could potentially get with the New York Knicks you talking about want to have a sports home you win a championship for the New York Knicks you are an immortal in this city for the rest of your life for the rest of your life you don’t believe me ask Wal Clyde Frasier you are an immortal for the rest of your life they still celebrate teams that just got to the conference finals you see all of these Knicks players coming back a championship for the New York Knicks in this town means more than the two he would have won in Golden State or any championship that he would win anywhere else you You want a real life example of that from yesterday i’m in Florida here at ESPN West Palm for the day i’m walking somewhere a cop stops me and he says “What they gave you the day off today?” I said “No I’m on i’m on tomorrow just doing it from here.” He said “Tell Kanty we miss him with the Giants why cuz you won a damn championship in New York that’s it that’s it we’re unsportsman like presented by Progressive Insurance this is un [Music] Good thing Who’s my name [Music] what’s up okay [Music] [Music] no no no no no [Applause] [Music] i’m coming up

ESPN reveals latest on NBA BLOCKBUSTER trade: Kevin Durant has been traded to the San Antonio Spurs