ESPN breaks down Suns superstar Kevin Durant preferred trade destinations to Spurs, Rockets or Heat

ESPN breaks down Suns superstar Kevin Durant preferred trade destinations to Spurs, Rockets or Heat

welcome back to CBS Sports HQ Kevin Durant has told the Suns that his preferred trade destinations are Miami San Antonio and Houston That’s according to ESPN The 15time all-star has one year remaining on his current deal at just under $55 million Now once he’s traded Durant will be eligible to sign a new 2-year $122 million extension on July 6th for much more on this and the top landing spot for Kevin Durant Let’s go ahead and say hello to John Gonzalez for more John great to see you Let’s go ahead and start here with just how good uh KD fits in with the Heat Yeah I mean from the Heat perspective it would be a boon to get Kevin Durant right i mean they’re in the Eastern Conference They move on from Jimmy Butler What they have with that team right now Tyler Hero I like a lot Bam Adabio I like a lot The team I don’t like as much Jordan But if you can flip somebody for Kevin Durant all of a sudden in the Eastern Conference where it’s super upside down it’s anybody’s conference next year especially with the Celtics not having Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown having surgery and the Cavs they got bounced out in the second round and Darius Garland had surgery and you could just go up and down the standings The Heat could have a chance there Now the question is what do you have to give in order to get KD is it some sort of combination of Andrew Wiggins Duncan Robinson Kel Wear Jaime Hakez i mean they do have three tradable first round picks They have number 20 this year the 2030 uh pick and then the 2032 Is that enough to get it done this is a world Jordan where Desmond Bane just went for four first round picks at a pick swap So is that enough for Kevin Durant i’m not sure But from the Miami Heat perspective yes of course you would love Kevin Durant He’d be a perfect fit Yeah that’s a great point Well another preferred destination by KD was San Antonio Does this make sense to you though yeah it’s a little bit of a different timeline from Kevin Durant’s perspective I do like it because if you compare him with Victor Wanyama and and De’aran Fox now all of a sudden you’re cooking with gas right but the question is Darren Fox obviously younger Kevin Durant’s 37 and then Wii is super young but also he’s got the blood clot issue So are you on the same timeline if WBY is back in time sure Yeah Now all of a sudden you’re instant contenders in the West even in a loaded Western Conference but what would the Spurs have to give up again there were reports that they’re not willing to surrender number two overall which is projected to be Dylan Harper and that they’re not willing to s surrender uh this year’s rookie of the year in Stfan Castle Well okay What are you willing to give up i know that Kevin Durant is 37 and he’s got one year left on his deal at 54 and $54 million and change That’s a pretty hefty price tag for somebody that late on in his career But he is Kevin Durant You have to give up something to get something And I just don’t know that Devin Vel and Harrison Barnes are going to get it done looking at the Rockets here as another potential destination for Kevin Durant Um does this sit well with you well if I’m Kevin Durant of these three this is the one I’d like the most because the Rockets are so close Jordan They’re ready to take that next step The Rockets finished with the number two seed overall They’re one of the best defenses in the NBA They are loaded They have oodles of young talented players Alpine Shenun Aman Thompson who I’m a huge fan of Jaylen Green Ty East and Jabari Smith you go up and down the roster they are loaded Plus on top of that from the Suns perspective the Rockets control a big portion of the Suns draft moving forward They have that 2027 first round pick and the 2029 If you’re the Suns and you’re you have some designs on maybe tanking moving forward you want those picks back You want to control your own draft Now if I’m the Rockets I don’t think I’m going to do this because at 37 years old Kevin Durant as talented as he is and even though he might level you up and make you an instant contender even though you already were a contender but really take you to that next level I don’t know that I’m going to do it because this team as currently constituted as young talented and it’s sort of like a a lighter poor man’s version of what Oklahoma City built right they built through their own organization They stockpiled draft picks and they didn’t take any big swings because they didn’t have to Now we’ll see whether or not that ends up with them winning the NBA Finals this year but they’re two wins away so that’s a pretty good position to be in If I’m the Rockets Jordan I want to kick the tires on this thing a little bit longer at least another half season till the trade deadline before I make a move like this All right so aside from these three then what are some other good fits in your opinion uh John for Kevin Durant yeah I’ll give you two more Uh the Knicks obviously they made it to the Eastern Conference Now there was a report that they actually made an offer for Kevin Durant at the trade deadline So if you do the math read between the lines that would mean that they’d have to unplug one of OG Anobi or Male Bridges plus something else to make the salaries match up or just Kevin Dur Carl Anthony Towns for Kevin Durant Now Carl Anthony Towns and Deon Booker they played together in college and they’ve been rumored for a long time to want to play together professionally The question is after adding Carl Anthony Towns last year are you ready to move on from him i doubt you’re ready to move on from OG or Male Bridges who you gave up five first round draft picks for So this one even though I love it from Kevin Durant’s perspective you get to the Eastern Conference you get to an Eastern Conference finalist you get to play in New York at MSG Bright Lights Big City That would be fantastic for him I have a hard time seeing how that one gets done And then the other one here is the Wolves and this is also complicated because the Wolves cap situation is dire They’re deep into that second apron I don’t know how they’re going to pull it off Nas Reed who’s very good he has a player option at $15 million I think he’s worth more than that I think he’s going to opt out That’s going to make things a little topsyturvy for them I don’t know which way they’re going to go after that And then Julius Randle who started to play much better after the All-Star break he also has a player option at $30.9 million I think that’s about the level where he should get paid but does he opt in does he uh opt out and then resign at a lesser number for more years and then what would they have to do to trade for Kevin Durant would it be something like Rudy Gobear and Dante Devenzo maybe Rob Dillingham and some picks i don’t know if that gets it done but it’s an interesting landing spot because Anthony Edwards has long said that Kevin Durant who he played with on the Olympic team was his favorite player growing up So teaming those two guys up might keep Anthony Edwards happy after two straight Western Conference finals end in disappointment and they don’t get to the NBA finals Yeah you can really make a case for a bunch of these teams here John Gonzalez Always great to see you here on CBS Sports HQ chatting about the top landing spots for Kevin Durant as he has we’ve got breaking news out of the NBA where the Orlando Magic have acquired Desmond Bane from the Memphis Grizzlies in a blockbuster trade That’s according to ESPN Now in return Memphis will receive Contavius Caldwell Pope Cole Anthony four unprotected first round picks and a first round swap As you take a look at the full deal there in the details Bane spent the first five years of his career in Memphis averaging just over 19 points six rebounds and three assists per game So he’ll now join a Magic team that’s looking to make its way back to the conference finals for the first time since 2010 For much more on this blockbuster deal and trade let’s go ahead and welcome in Tim Doyle and John Gonzalez for more Uh gentlemen great to see you Initial reaction to this uh seems like a lot Um let’s go ahead and start here with did the Magic overpay for Desmond Bane here I think we all know how terrible they were in shooting That’s obviously a huge need for them dead last in threes last season but is this a fair deal tim Doyle I I I think it’s a perfect fit John I’m interested to hear what you have to say but he’s in the prime of his career which I always like I don’t love paying guys that are 32 33 He’s 26 years old as of this trade so he’s still hitting the prime of his career But Jordan you said it best The worst three-point shooting team in the entire NBA was the Orlando Magic at 31% And you bring in a veteran presence who’s tough on defense but more importantly over the course of his career John has shot over 40% from three I’ve loved this Orlando Magic team for the last three years now Last season they battled injuries with Paulo and Fron both banged up but they need guys that can ultimately space the floor He’s in the prime of his career He is a perfect complimentary third or fourth best player I think this is an amazing fit for Orlando Yeah multiple things can be true at once here Jordan Tim’s absolutely right from a fit perspective Desmond Bane is perfect for the Orlando Magic because they do need shooting They do need scoring Everybody knows how offensively challenged they’ve been And also Jamal Mosley is gonna love this dude because he plays defense at the other end of the floor And Jeff Welman he’s been everybody’s sort of been waiting for the Magic to take a big swing here I’m just a little surprised while we’re talking about two things being true at the same time that the big swing was on Desmond Bane because oh that’s a spicy a spicy price tag right i mean like you’re giving up four first round picks and a pick swap for Desmond Bane You’re telling me he couldn’t do better than Desmond Bane on that i mean like look look I think this is a situation where Zach Kleim there’s a lot of uh questions in Memphis about which way Memphis was going to go because there’s been rumors about John Morant There’s been rumors about what’s going to happen with Triple J and his new contract We know that they fired their head coach Taylor Jenkins and brought in Tomaso Okay all of a sudden it’s like are they bu rebuilding on the fly what are they doing i think when the magic come to them with this offer for Desmond Bane you go yes thank you very much We will take this That Phoenix pick in 2026 is very tasty And then I guess the magic thinking is the unprotected picks in 2028 and 2030 along with the lightly protected 20 29 swaps aren’t going to matter if they’re good But what if they’re not right i mean there’s a a lot of things can change So I like it in a vacuum on paper for the Magic It makes sense from a basketball perspective but boy from a team building perspective not so sure about it for the Magic Love it for the Grizzlies Yeah Uh a great point and I think we’re all on the same page here a great fit fills a huge need but a very hefty price tag there for Desmond Bane Um John coming right back to you on this How much better does this actually make the magic you mentioned over 40% um from from three uh Tim for for Desmond Bane that is Um but how much closer are they to being an actual contender all right so from a basketball perspective Jeff Waltman decided hey let’s take a swing here Desmond Bane is a good fit He plays at both ends of the floor We’ve already talked about how offensively challenged they are They’re are very good defensive team They’re number three in defensive rating last year The Eastern Conference is up for grabs next year right you had the number one team uh the Cleveland Cavaliers they get bounced out in the second round And also Darius Garland’s having surgery The Boston Celtics the previous defending champions No Jason Tatum for the year And also Jaylen Brown just had surgery And they have to unplug one of likely Chris’s Porzingis or Drew Holiday because of their cap constraints Go down the roster you get to the Knicks The Knicks are still looking for a head coach And who knows what that looks like next year The Indiana Pacers are going to be right there Congrats to the Indiana Pacers on doing more with less But then you get to the the Bucks The Bucks are you know Giannis right now says that he doesn’t want to go anywhere but that could change This is early June and you’re not going to have Dame Lillard because he blew out his Achilles and on and on and on down uh the lineup in the Eastern Conference down the standings I like the Detroit Pistons as as an ascending team but the Magic are probably the only other team that you look like are maybe what the Raptors depending on if you squint and like you like what uh they’ve done Messiah Jerry has done there Yeah I think the Magic this does make the Magic better The Eastern Conference is in flux but I don’t know that this takes them from hey you’re a in the playoff mix to an instant Eastern Conference contender I I think it puts them in the top four I I’ll take it a a step further I I I do I think that they were really close heading into last year and then last year just a ton of injuries You remember two years ago they took Cleveland to like an amazing sevengame series and what did the Cavs do last year the best record in the Eastern Conference unfortunately they had injuries in the postseason That’s what the Magic had in the regular season To John’s point ID is totally up for grabs If you’re a Magic fan Jordan you have two superstars young superstars stars whatever you want to call them Guys that get you 25 a game in the NBA in Paulo Bancer and France Vagner If you’re a Magic fan you’re going to love this They’re trying at least They bring in Desen Bane He’s the prime of his career You see his numbers He’s like super reliable He’s a great team guy Did they pay too much for him absolutely But if you’re a Magic fan you got to be like man we’re actually trying to push all in And with Florida with no state income tax I think it becomes a desirable place if midway through this season you see the Magic are I don’t know 32 and N if they want to like go all in and go get somebody So this is what you want to see from a team like Orlando Like they drafted well They have two stars They’re starting to push all in right now to try to win right now And I think they’re going to be one of the top four best teams in the East All right So if you’re Orlando Magic fan you got to be thrilled Um meanwhile for Memphis if you’re a Memphis Grizzlies fan are you happy with the hall Tim that they got for Desmond Bane well now like you got to start um taking a look in the mirror Who you going to be and I have loved the Grizzlies ever since I saw John Moran play his freshman year at Murray State Thought they should have been drafted number one over Zion but Jaw’s been a handful away from the court And I think that’s translated into the locker room which is translated on the court You know your best player has to be the leader has to be unselfish has to be putting in the e extra work has to be that example to everybody else And I think Jaw has fallen short in some of those categories I still think he’s an amazing talent but John they’re definitely at the crossroads of if they don’t make a splash or make a run next year maybe they look in the mirror I don’t think it’s breaking up now but it could be breaking up pretty soon Yeah it’s going to be really interesting to see what Zack Kleimman does with this thing because he’s obviously unafraid to make some moves right i mean he fires Taylor Jenkins right at the end of the season brings in his guy Tomas Eselo and then all of a sudden now you get this haul for Desmond Bane You can’t turn that down But what are you going to do with Jaw and Triple J And Tim’s right there’s been some issues with Jaw off the court On the court there’s been some issues with Jaw right his availability The problem with Jaw is what makes him so good also makes him frequently unavailable And that is he plays 100 miles an hour He’s Mr Kool-Aid Man He runs through every brick wall and goes “Oh yeah well that’s great to watch It’s super fun.” Right but it also makes him unavailable and it has led to uh you know him missing huge chunks of seasons because of various injuries Last year this past season he missed a whole ton for a bunch of different malady So now all of a sudden like there’s been these rumors are they maybe going to move on from him what could they even get for him and then Triple J who I like Jiren Jackson Jr had an outstanding season I thought he probably should have made all NBA He just missed the cut So that changes his contract issues Uh he made all defense but now the question is what extension number do they land on for him if any or does he want to move on so there’s a whole bunch of moving pieces here now for Zack Climate It’s going to be really interesting to see whether or not he tries to reboot this thing on the fly and he keeps Jaw and Triple J or if all of a sudden they’re moving on too and this whole thing becomes a rebuild Rebuild out of nowhere Yeah to that point let’s follow up there John what do you think the Grizzlies should do um using this these picks for a rebuild or maybe flipping them for some veterans to try and turn themselves into a contender yeah it’s really it’s a tough one here Jordan because don’t forget before they moved on from Taylor Jenkins there was a big chunk of the season last year even with John missing so much time last year where they were as high as the number two seed in a loaded Western Conference Now the wheels came off of of it uh as the season went on and obviously they fire their head coach and then they get absolutely pounded by Oklahoma City in the first round And it’s really tough to parse here I think probably like with this big haul I’d be more inclined to get Triple J done and then find out if I have some suitors for John Mar because they do have some interesting pieces beyond those two guys They’ve got Santiama and you know now all of a sudden uh they’ve got some different injury issues but I do think that they’ve got a deep bench They they played 10 deep last year Uh but it’s Yeah it’s a big big decision for Zack Kleman So this is why you get paid that money to be president of basketball operations He can go he’s got optionality but I don’t know that that makes his job any easier Yeah I think you need to move the picks and get a closer That’s actually been their biggest problem is late in a game they don’t have a Demar D Rozan type player And I’m just using him as an example because over the last few years I thought they would go out and make a guy like that Go get him And just Desmond Bane’s a really nice player He’s not a closer And Jiren Jackson Jr does so many great things on the court well but he’s not one of those guys you just give the ball to and you say go out there and score Jaw can do it but everyone knows Jaw is the only guy who could do it So if you go get another veteran wing who you can just throw the ball to and then they can go get a really tough basket in the playoffs Um I love this move for Memphis you build you’re also able also move guys They need other closers cuz they’re pretty close They were in like the top three all year in the Western Conference So uh I would move it and go get a wing closer Cole Anony’s a great bench guy and their bench is really solid but I think they need like a wing 20 point a game scorer If they can go get someone like that who’s just a pure bucket I think that would be a great fit for them All right we’ll wait and see what the Memphis Grizzlies do Uh safe to say though they have some options Gentlemen great to see you here on CBS Sports HQ with the breaking news out of the NBA The Orlando Magic have acquired Desmond Bane from the Memphis Grizzlies in this blockbuster trade that they will have much more on on the Beyond the Ark podcast Scan that QR code on your screen and watch and listen wherever you get your pods [Music] [Music] All right All right [Music] Okay Foreign speech Foreign speech Foreign speech Foreign speech Foreign speech Foreign speech [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] Oh my fingers [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I know [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] All [Music] right [Applause] [Applause] [Music] window [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] Okay [Music] [Music] John [Music] [Music] and chill [Music] [Applause] Hello Hello [Applause] Chicken The church cons [Music] [Applause] That Okay [Music] [Applause] [Applause] Stop I’m chilling [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] Get home lunch Yeah

ESPN breaks down Suns superstar Kevin Durant preferred trade destinations to Spurs, Rockets or Heat