Suns In TROUBLE As Kevin Durant Blows Up Trades, Wizards Talking Trade With Spurs

Suns In TROUBLE As Kevin Durant Blows Up Trades, Wizards Talking Trade With Spurs

the Phoenix Suns may be in a bit of trouble on the Kevin Durant trade front now that the smoke is clearing and we’re finding out what’s really on the table for them should they move KD plus the Washington Wizards making a surprising push to move up in the NBA draft i’m Trevor Lane this is the basketball bulletin make sure you subscribe right here to the channel and turn on those notifications as well all right let’s dive in so this is from Michael Graange coming out of Sportsnet in Toronto said the reports that the Raptors are monitoring the situation with Kevin Durant are credible and make sense so yeah Toronto they’re in on KD however and this is key multiple sources have confirmed that Raptor center Yaka Purle would not be part of any deal however unlikely a Raptor Suns deal might be centered around Durant the Suns were asking for Purle at the trade deadline and got a firm no back then but that hasn’t stopped them from asking so what we’ve been hearing has been that the Raptors had a package centered around Purle one or more of RJ Barrett or Emanuel Quickley plus the number nine pick in the NBA draft for Kevin Durant well now we can surmise where that intel was coming from from the Phoenix side of things because the Raptors are firing back saying “What no we’re not giving up Yaka Purle in a deal for a 37-year-old Kevin Durant.” The Phoenix Suns are very well known to want to get a center in any Kevin Durant trade they really want to address that position they want Nick Richards to become their backup big and they want to get somebody in to be their starter that’s why there have been rumors linking them to perhaps Nick Richards in a big three team deal that would have involved uh the Brooklyn Nets perhaps featuring the Minnesota Timberwolves there’s also uh buzz about maybe Rudy Gobear but it seems that some of these trade packages may be being generated by the Phoenix Suns in order to get other teams to increase their offers so if Yaka Purle is actually not on the table in a trade for Kevin Durant why was he mentioned well probably to get teams like Houston San Antonio Miami to increase their offers so this was all about driving up the price in fact in the last 24 hours we’ve essentially heard that now not only is Yaka Purle not on the table the Miami Heat have not added Kell Wear into the deal the Houston Rockets have not added Jabari Smith or Atari E these are all names that we had heard would be part of any Kevin Durant package clearly that was coming from the Phoenix side because the local markets for all those teams are saying no that’s not happening and so now the Phoenix Suns are in a situation where all teams are trying to call their bluff they know the Suns want to get a deal done before the NBA draft which is coming up really quick on the 25th and with that deadline approaching teams are waiting to see if the Phoenix Suns will blink and take less in a trade package for Kevin Durant now one of the things mentioned by Mark Stein on his wonderful Substack said “The Suns continue to believe that a deal they consider palatable can materialize before the first night of the NBA draft with Phoenix quietly hopeful for some time that the return from the first trade executed by new general manager Brian Gregory will include a draft pick that it can immediately put to use during Wednesday night’s proceedings.” So the Houston Rockets they’ve got the 10th pick which used to belong to the Phoenix Suns that they could ironically give back to Phoenix in a Kevin Durant trade they also have future Phoenix Suns draft capital in 2027 and 2029 they have intriguing players to build around jaylen Green being one though reportedly the Suns aren’t that interested in Jaylen Green and we’d be looking to flip him to a third team due to his potentially poor fit with Devin Booker and on top of that they’ve got players like Tari E like Jabari Smith that would certainly hold interest to the Suns but as of right now the Houston Rockets are trying not to put hardly any of that into a trade meanwhile the Miami Heat appear that they could get a deal done for Kevin Durant if they’re willing to give up Keller but the problem is they’re not and so the Miami Heat are also assuming that at some point these Suns will blink and will give in and do a deal with pieces that they are not asking for included in it now meanwhile Kevin Durant he’s running around and doing everything he can to diminish his market value he is telling any team that he does not want to go to and remember there’s only three teams he wants to go to that’s the San Antonio Spurs who are rumored to be the top of his list the Houston Rockets and the Miami Heat only those three teams so he’s telling every other team whether it’s Toronto or Minnesota or anybody else that he will not sign there long term he can sign an extension uh this summer with them he could also sign in free agency next summer he is scheduled to be a free agent next summer and so that would leave him the ability to walk away and thus he’s scaring off teams by telling them that he will be a one-year rental for any of the teams that aren’t on his three team preferred landing spot list so not only do you have the difficult situation for the Phoenix Suns where there is this perceived deadline of the NBA draft coming up that teams are using to their advantage and trying to force the Suns to take a lesser trade package that doesn’t include the key piece that they want from Toronto it’s Purle uh from Houston it’s Trey Een or Jabari Smith from the Miami Heat it’s Kellair the San Antonio Spurs they want the number two pick or they want uh they want Stefon Castle i don’t see them getting either of those things but nonetheless that’s what they want none of those teams are willing to put those things into the trade package right now plus Kevin Durant is doing everything he can to diminish his market value the Suns would love it if they could point to and I think they tried to do this if they could point to Toronto if they could point to Minnesota and say “Look Minnesota’s offering us Dante Devenzo Rudy Gobear plus draft picks all this stuff houston if you want him you’re going to have to match that level of offer.” or Toronto is off offering Purle plus RJ Barrett plus the nine pick miami if you want him you’re going to have to match that offer well now all of that is being pulled out from under the Phoenix Suns as Toronto is saying no we’re not offering that and the same thing is happening now with the Minnesota Timberwolves who I think has probably the most interest in Kevin Durant but they’re getting scared off by KD saying that he won’t stay there long term so all of this puts the Phoenix Suns in a very precarious situation everybody knows they need to move Kevin Durant and from a leverage perspective that’s making it difficult for them to get the kind of deal that they want ultimately I still think we get resolution here by draft night but the Phoenix Suns they are having their feet held to the fire here by the rest of the teams in the NBA it’s part of the reason why you see so many teams push back against any negative narrative about them because leverage it’s just so important in trade talks and right now the Suns they’re trying to create it but they don’t have a lot of it in part because of the ticking clock but also because of Kevin Durant himself doing everything he can to shut down specific trade destinations now that’s not the only trade rumor that we’ve got going on right now obviously it’s a busy time of year on the trade front around the NBA we also have the Washington Wizards reportedly looking to move up and talking trade with the San Antonio Spurs grant Absent who’s a great guy has appeared on Lakers Nation with me before uh said Washington has made multiple offers to teams in the top five in an effort to land either Dylan Harper or Jeremiah Fears which is interesting because I think most mocks have fears still being around by the sixth pick which is where Washington currently sits they had some uh some bad luck in the draft lottery but nonetheless moving up for to number two is what would be required to get Dylan Harper uh even being willing to part with surprising names to move up to number two overall so that has caught a lot of attention thus far those attempts have been rebuffed san Antonio which holds the number two pick has turned down overtures from both Washington and Philadelphia and remains committed to using this selection so most likely that’s where we’re going to land the San Antonio Spurs regardless of fit and I do think there’s some fit concerns with Dylan Harper they’re going to take Dylan Harper at number two overall however if Washington is putting out their surprising names who are we talking about who is Washington willing to part with in order to get Dylan Harper at number two i would imagine they would be packaging the sixth pick with player X in order to move up to second overall are we talking Bal Kulabali that that would get interesting right uh what about last year’s number two overall pick Alex Sar is that going a bit too far far far now now I sound like Dr seuss but I those are the two names that I look at and say that could be a surprising name the other one would be Bub Carrington perhaps as somebody they could attach now again I I don’t blame the San Antonio Spurs for saying no we’re going to stick at two we’re going to keep Dylan Harper but if Washington really is hellbent on moving up to number two to the point where they’re willing to give up a really talented young player to do it I mean maybe they do value Dylan Harper so much that they say we’ll give up Alex Sar plus pick plus pick number six we’ll give up Bal Koulibali plus pick number six something like that when Grant says surprising names those are the guys that I go to as names that would at least cause the Spurs to stop and say “Let’s let’s think about this let’s think about this here.” But if you believe if you’re the Spurs and you believe that Dylan Harper is that next level player you just take him you just take him and you stick but right now there are teams looking to test the resolve of the San Antonio Spurs including the Philadelphia 76ers who are also a prime candidate to move back in the draft from that third overall pick so all of this what it all boils down to is the NBA draft is coming up the trade market is heating up and we’re expecting all kinds of chaos at any moment you never know when things are going to happen which means make sure you do stay subscribed right here to the channel we’re going to keep you up to date on everything going on around the NBA crazy time of year everybody crazy time of year but we appreciate all of you and all of the support that you’ve given this channel till next time everybody see you and stay safe

In this video Trevor Lane takes a look at the pushback against the rumored trade packages for Kevin Durant as the Suns scramble to get the best deal that they can while KD shuts down options. Meanwhile, the Wizards are looking to trade up for Dylan Harper….

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