Marc Stein: Kevin Durant Has Teams EAGER TO Trade For Him From Phoenix Suns

Marc Stein: Kevin Durant Has Teams EAGER TO Trade For Him From Phoenix Suns

well let’s talk about Kevin Durant and everything going on with him in the NBA scene in general we bring in of course one of the most plugged in people when it comes to it it is DLLS’s Mark Stack writing alongside Jake Fischer keeping NBA fans informed and as smart as they could possibly be mark busy busy busy time how is the Kevin Durant trade market going for you personally this is what the people want so let’s do it i mean how many times I I’m sure we all wish we had a dime for every time we heard somebody say “This off season is going to be crazy.” And look we got a we got an absolute blockbuster on June 15th 10 days before the draft and between now and the draft yes we’re going to be talking about the NBA Finals yes we’re going to be talking about Cooper Flag and Dylan Harper and how the order shakes out shakes out after them but other than that until Kevin Durant is traded Kevin Durant is as large a storyline as there is in the NBA his future and what happens well Mark I I I kind of want to get your read on this because as we know during this time of year teams will leak things and it’s often for a reason um but how are you kind of seeing this market shake out in terms of you know we we’ve seen the three teams the Rockets the Spurs uh the Heat the teams that were his preferred destinations we’ve heard the report that the Suns are not pleased or not excited about the offers they’re getting i’ve heard rumblings that the Timberwolves have been one of the most aggressive how are you kind of seeing this market shake out and what are you hearing on your end you guys mentioned Jake Fischer writes twice a week on my page and honestly this this time of year he writes more than twice a week so he and I are covering this together and I think we’ve been pretty consistent in our reporting you have the group of teams like you said the three teams that we know Kevin Durant would be open to landing with or that he hopes to land with either San Antonio or Houston in Texas or the Miami Heat i reported yesterday the Knicks also would have been on that list but the Knicks made it pretty clear in this process that they would not be making a run at Kevin Durant so I think you have the group of teams that we know Kevin Durant is open to signing an extension with beyond just being traded there then you have the group of teams Minnesota probably at the top of that list where they’re willing to tra they’re willing interested slash maybe even eager to trade for Kevin Durant without any assurance that they can have him on their team from beyond next season kevin Durant only has one year left on his contract and what’s so different now compared to February is in February when people talked about Kevin Durant trade prospects it was very much likened to what we heard with Jimmy Butler and Miami that wherever Jimmy Butler ended up there was most likely going to be an extension attached to the trade and that’s exactly what we saw in Golden State jimmy Butler got a two-year extension on top of the trade but you have these rumblings now that your Minnesota’s maybe the Clippers maybe Toronto maybe some team that we’re not even aware of Mystery Suitor X you can call it that is willing to trade for Kevin Durant with without an assurance that they would have him for more than one season and that’s really the rub here because the signals from the Suns I think it’s pretty clear they’re going to do they’re going to make the trade they like the best yo there have been there’s been lots of reporting about they are working with Kevin Durant and his longtime business manager Rich Kimman but the way I worded it I think this was in my Sunday story the Suns have not promised that they’re going to trade Kevin Durant to one of the three teams on his list of preferred destinations if one of those three teams makes an offer that Phoenix likes then the Suns would do that but I think it’s it’s pretty clear here that the Suns at this point are going to make the best trade they can conceivably make because I’m pretty sure you guys do not want me to run through the litany of players and draft picks they surrendered to get him in February 2023 cuz we do not want anybody in chat bursting into tears mark in recent reports over the last couple of weeks we heard that the Suns are valuing a starting caliber center um to bring into their team with Jordan not going forward obviously and even as recent as yesterday we heard about them being interested in some capacity in Chris Porzingis as well as Miles Turner can you just kind of give us a little bit more detail and uh kind of what you know from your perspective on what the interest level is with those two yeah that actually came from Jake Fischer a tremendous story that he posted this morning that the Suns are doing some background work in on Kristoff’s Porzingis because look it’s an open secret in the NBA that the Celtics are weighing changes to their roster they’ve got to reduce salary they’ve got to reduce their luxury tax bill and realistically the easiest way for this for the Celtics to do that is by moving Porzingis whose contract is down to one year a little bit under 31 million it’s an expiring deal drew Holiday there are there are teams out there that would naturally love to acquire Drew Holiday who has been part of championship teams in both Milwaukee and Boston but Drew Holiday has three years left on his deal valued at more than a hundred million so he’s harder to trade that’s just the reality of it so if Christophs Porzingis is available and you spelled out the Sun’s need for a floor spacing big man very well obviously they’re going to investigate it see if there is anything there i think realistically if anything ever came to fruition with Porzingis landing in Phoenix it would probably have to be a multi-team deal i don’t think Jake’s reporting was meant to suggest that there is anything close there but just something that the Suns are monitoring and a player that the Suns are interested in because look Miles Turner we Jake and I have been writing Detroit Atlanta throw Phoenix in there there is no shortage of teams that would love to go after Miles Turner but the working assumption around the league is that Turner and the Pacers are going to do a new deal they’re in the finals for just the second time in 25 years turner is a Pacers lifer i don’t really think anyone around the league expects him to become available he is almost certainly going to resign with the Pacers hey Mark Shane Young here nice to talk with you um I’m just I’m just wondering with the Houston piece of this do you feel as if there’s some internal I don’t know maybe conflict or disagreement in terms of you know obviously Eimedoka the coach has a relationship with Kevin Durant close still to this day but management you know not not wanting to send out too much in a in a deal with KD but coaching that the coaching staff might might want to get him in the door to advance in the West look I mean I think you’re right in terms of Enoa’s fondness for Kevin Durant is another one of those open secrets in the league royal Ivy is also on Houston staff a coach who’s very close to Kevin Durant i reported yesterday I believe there the Spurs and a number of teams have been trying to hire Royal Ivy away from the Rockets and all indications are that Royal Ivy wants to stay with the Rockets so and Royal Ivy of course was involved in the Suns head coaching search as well so look the Udoka Durant connection has been in circulation for months but I feel like like we’ve been reporting this also all season and the messaging out of Houston has been consistent and I have to say through the trade deadline especially it proved absolutely accurate that the Suns did not want to do anything to their team during the season they wanted to give this young group a chance to get to the playoffs and see what it could do just like Oklahoma City approached last season now the Rockets went out in round one they lost a game seven at home they were the higher seed they had undeniable offensive issues in that series against Golden State and I do think now there are certain scenarios in which the Rockets would do a Durant trade but I also I mean I’ve I’ve consistently gotten the impression that the Rockets feel like they are going to be very selective in terms of what they would be willing to give up not because they don’t love Kevin Durant of course they like Kevin Durant does like Kevin Durant is a Hall of Fame player and still one of the I don’t know three to five best bucket getters on earth i don’t care if he turns 37 in September that’s not really the issue but they have a team of 20somes and they’re young 20somes and so I think they feel like like they’ve got Phoenix’s first in 2027 2029 they already controlled the Suns first round pick in this draft it really has appeared to me to this point underline to this point because stuff changes it’s a very fluid league and things can change but to this point I do think it’s fair to say that interest in a Durant to Houston deal to this point has been more on the Suns side than on the Rockets side and it’s obvious why because the Rockets have those picks and the Suns would love to get at least one of them back are the Rockets going to cave and give the Suns what they want or are the Rockets in some form or fashion going to put the best Durant offer on the table we’re we’re still going to have to wait and see i can’t I can’t give you that answer mark we appreciate you taking some time out of your busy schedule to join us uh maybe we could talk some draft stuff another time before the draft happens but you mentioned that there are a lot of teams who are interested in KD different types of teams with with different packages to offer universally speaking where would you say Kevin Durant’s trade value is right now because you mentioned all the good that comes with them the bucket getter but then there’s the age and the contract we just saw Desmond Bane go for a large amount of draft capital let’s maybe use that as a baseline where do you see Kevin Durant’s trade package lining up with that yeah it’s I I have not I’ll just put it to you like this i haven’t spoken to anyone from another team or just you know other teams who are not even trying to get Durant but just observing this situation i have not heard anyone projecting that a Durant trade can bring four first back to the Suns again because of all the reasons you said he’s going to be 37 in September and he only has one year left on his contract so even those teams willing to gamble like we’ve talked a lot about Toronto and the Clippers how far are they willing to go in a trade when Durant would only be arriving with one year left on his deal and I think that’s the push and pull i mean that’s why we haven’t seen a trade yet the Suns obviously have lofty ambitions here and want to and naturally want to get back as much as they can in this trade but it’s just easier said than done because a lot of these conditions i mean why was Orlando willing to go so far for Desmond Bane a player who does not have an all-star appearance on his resume he is a proven distance shooter and volume shooter he’s an underrated playmaker but it’s also the age he’s not yet 27 and the contract control Bane is under contract for what three or four more years so those things factored in to the Orlando trade calculus as well as the fact that the Magic had to offload KCP’s contract and you know they had to give Memphis some sweetener there because that contract is not regarded as a contract with positive value so it’s hard to make outright comparisons it’s not necessarily a statement about the players involved because again you know Kevin Durant wherever he goes is not just going to bring a world class bucket getter to his next team but I mean the interest level I mean he’s going you know Kevin Durant is going to be good for business if you know just hypothetically speaking if the Minnesota Timberwolves or the Toronto Raptors roll the dice and win the trade sweep stakes i mean imagine Kevin Durant going to the the jolt that he gives a franchise like that if he ends up with a Minnesota or a Toronto but obviously he’s hoping to to land with one of those three teams that that are on his list mark thank you so much obviously the Steinline Substack is a great place to keep up with not just what’s going on with Kevin Durant in the Phoenix Suns but everything going on in the NBA as well you and Jay Fischer do incredible work there even covering some draft stuff as well jake Fischer reporting that ryan Caulk Benner and Maxine Rayard have worked out with the Suns so might have to have one of you guys on before the draft again to dive deeper into that but once again we appreciate you sharing your insight on KD make sure that if you guys are not already subscribe to Mark Stein Substack that you do that and you can tap in with his coverage over at DLLS with All City mark thank you so much thanks for having me guys we will do it again soon perfect sounds good i would tell everybody to follow Mark Stein but you guys all probably already do this timeline in case you didn’t notice [Applause] [Music]

NBA Insider, DLLS’ Marc Stein, gives the latest updates on Kevin Durant’s trade market for the Phoenix Suns. He discusses how a bidding war is forming with a few wild card teams who are willing to take a risk on trading for KD without assurance of a contract extension, how the Suns are also interested in centers like Kristaps Porzingis and Myles Turner, plus how Desmond Bane’s trade to the Orlando Magic impacts KD’s trade market going forward.

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