Kevin Durant trade proposals: Four deals for the Suns star
Which teams could be in the mix to trade for Kevin Durant this offseason?
Last month, the Golden State Warriors were atop the list of suitors for the future Hall of Famer, but Durant had no interest in a reunion with the franchise he won two titles with, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania on the eve of the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
And even as the 11th-place Phoenix Suns attempt to secure one of the final Western Conference play-in berths — a push strengthened Tuesday by their historic second-half rally against the LA Clippers — Durant’s future remains a major storyline to watch down the stretch of the season and into the summer.
With that, we asked four NBA analysts (Chris Herring, Zach Kram, Kevin Pelton and André Snellings) to propose realistic trades for the two-time Finals MVP, then had front office insider Bobby Marks evaluate the deals and pick the best offer, based on the directions Phoenix could choose as the franchise looks to reshape its expensive, underperforming and top-heavy roster.
Jump to a KD trade:
DAL | HOU | MIA | NYK
Picking the winning offer
Durant is set to enter the last year of a four-year, $198 million extension he signed in Brooklyn. And while he does not have a no-trade clause like Suns teammate Bradley Beal does, Durant holds leverage on where his next home will be.
“I want my career to end on my terms, that’s the only thing,” Durant said on “The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis” last month. “That’s the only thing I’m worried about. ‘Cause I see a lot of dudes that don’t get that opportunity, so I want to keep putting in that work to make that choice on my own.”
As Charania reported recently, Phoenix and Durant will work together if there is a decision to move the All-Star after the season. Two factors will play a role if a trade materializes. The first: Is Durant willing to sign a two-year, $122 million extension with the team trading for him? Because Durant can be a free agent in 2026, it is unlikely a team trades draft capital and players for a one-year rental.
The second, and most important: Is the team that trades for Durant still in position to compete for a championship? At age 36, his next team will likely be his last opportunity to add a third ring.
— Marks
Kevin Pelton details the potential trade packages the Suns could receive for Kevin Durant.
Herring’s trade offer:
Mavericks get: Kevin Durant
Suns get: Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington, Naji Marshall, Dereck Lively II, 2025 first-round pick (via Dallas)
Why it makes sense for both sides
In dealing then-25-year-old Luka Doncic for 31-year-old Anthony Davis, the Mavericks have made no secret that they view their window to contend for a title as the next few years. With that in mind, they would seemingly be of the mind of continuing to push the chips in, even with Kyrie Irving’s torn ACL likely affecting their chances next season.
Getting Durant, one of Irving’s closest friends and his former Brooklyn teammate, would be a clear way to ensure the team’s perimeter scoring and ballhandling stay afloat while Irving rehabs. And it would also give Davis another future Hall of Famer to take pressure off his shoulders night to night. The move would also give Durant a chance to potentially finish his career in the state where he became a one-and-done superstar for the Texas Longhorns.
In this deal, the Suns immediately deepen their rotation, getting not only historic sharpshooter Thompson, but also key win-now players in Washington and Marshall. Most importantly, they would get Lively, who enjoyed a fantastic rookie season on both ends of the floor with Dallas en route to the Mavs reaching the NBA Finals last year. The haul, and the draft pick in a deep selection pool, should be enough to convince franchise player Devin Booker that Phoenix has enough to be competitive.
On the other side, Dallas, like the current Suns roster, would undoubtedly be a thin, top-heavy group as a result of this move — one with a trio of stars who would ultimately need a decent stretch of good health to give the club a chance at glory. It may seem like a heavy investment and risk for the Mavs. Frankly, it is one. But after dealing away Doncic, isn’t that exactly what Mavs general manager Nico Harrison and the club have signed up for at this point?
Kram’s trade offer:
Rockets get: Kevin Durant
Suns get: Dillon Brooks, Reed Sheppard, Cam Whitmore, Jock Landale, 2025 and 2027 first-round picks (via Phoenix; the 2025 first is conveyed after the May draft lottery)
Why it makes sense for both sides
The Rockets are a natural trade partner for the Suns for two main reasons. First, Durant slots neatly into Houston’s largest hole. Thanks to a shiny young core and ferocious defense, the Rockets are rising in the West. But they lack the go-to scorer required to lead a contender and rank just 25th in half-court offense this season, per Cleaning the Glass.
Even at 36, Durant would represent a major improvement in this area. He has a higher usage rate and much better true shooting percentage than any player in Houston’s rotation.
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Second, the Rockets control Phoenix’s draft picks in 2025, 2027 and 2029, which the Suns had initially sent to Brooklyn when they traded for Durant. Reacquiring some or all of those picks would bring Phoenix’s Durant era full circle and also allow the team to make whatever future moves it desired without worrying about the potential loss of lottery picks.
In the meantime, this return could also help Phoenix put together a competitive roster around Devin Booker and avoid a full rebuild. Brooks is a useful 3-and-D wing on a declining contract who could plug one hole in the Suns’ porous perimeter defense. Sheppard hasn’t found his footing in his rookie season in Houston, but the No. 3 pick offers more upside than any player on Phoenix’s roster. So too does Whitmore, an occasionally electric scorer (career 22 points per 36 minutes) who hasn’t checked enough other boxes to earn more of coach Ime Udoka’s trust.
Phoenix would acquire the young talent and picks it is missing, while Houston would upgrade from Brooks to Durant without sacrificing anyone else from its current core. That seems like a win-win deal.
Pelton’s trade offer:
Heat get: Kevin Durant
Suns get: Nikola Jovic, Andrew Wiggins, 2025 first-round pick (via Golden State), 2030 first-round pick (via Miami), 2026 second-round pick (via Los Angeles Lakers)
Nets get: Duncan Robinson, Keshad Johnson, 2029 first-round swap (top-4 protected), 2031 first-round swap (top-4 protected), 2031 second-round pick (via better of Indiana and Miami)
Why it makes sense for both sides
If the other offers here actually come in for Durant, the Heat don’t realistically stand a chance. Miami doesn’t have premium draft picks or young prospects to offer and must send out more salary than Durant’s $53.3 million for 2025-26 to avoid a hard cap at the lower luxury tax apron, necessitating sending some of the pick value to the Nets to take Robinson’s $19.9 million salary into cap space. (Some $10 million of Robinson’s 2025-26 contract is non-guaranteed, but the Heat would have to guarantee it in order to count fully as outgoing salary in trade.)
Instead, Miami has to hope that Dallas decides not to sacrifice massive amounts of depth for a Durant pursuit and Houston prefers to wait for a younger star player (say, Giannis Antetokounmpo or Booker) who better fits the team’s timetable.
In that scenario, the Heat can check multiple boxes for the Suns. This trade cuts about $20 million from Phoenix’s 2025-26 payroll, which the Suns could either reinvest in a center or simply take as enormous luxury tax savings. Getting Wiggins, who has bounced back this season as an above-average starter, and Jovic improves Phoenix’s forward depth. And the Suns end up with both the first-round pick the Warriors sent Miami in the Jimmy Butler trade and a valuable unprotected draft pick in 2030 to replenish the team’s coffers.
Snellings’ trade offer:
Knicks get: Kevin Durant
Suns get: OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson
Why it makes sense for both sides
In this deal, the Knicks get Durant after missing out to their crosstown rivals six years ago. The Knicks’ offense is strong but requires consistent heavy lifting from Jalen Brunson to create for the other finishers in the lineup. Well, Durant is one of the greatest finishers in NBA history and would pair with Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns to give the Knicks one of the most efficient and productive offensive cores in the NBA. Their skill sets mesh well and could be enough to help the Knicks take that next leap to join the Celtics and Cavaliers in true contention to win the Eastern Conference. They would need to add more depth and size in the offseason, but their offensive foundation and upside would be tremendous.
In Anunoby, the Suns get a 27-year old impact forward on a similar career timeline with 28-year old franchise player Booker. Anunoby is an elite wing defender, named second-team All-Defense in 2023 and with Booker would form a wing tandem that is excellent at both ends of the floor. The Suns also still need more size and muscle in the middle, and the 26-year old Robinson would give them another young veteran entering his peak seasons capable of contributing to the main rotation of a winning squad. Robinson has had health issues, but when on the court, he is one of the better defensive and rebounding bigs in the league.
Dallas, Miami and New York make compelling cases, but it is hard to turn down the trade proposal Houston has offered. The Rockets’ package checked four boxes Phoenix set off to accomplish in trading Durant: draft picks, controllable contracts, players who can help now and financial flexibility.
The trade recouped two firsts lost in the original Durant trade to Brooklyn and puts Phoenix in control of its first in two out of the next three years (Washington has the right to swap firsts in 2026). The other three trade proposals only had Phoenix receiving one first. Prior to the trade, Phoenix had no control of its own first over the next seven years.
The addition of Sheppard and Whitmore gives Phoenix two controllable contracts for the future and an injection of youth into an aging team. The Suns finished the 2024-25 regular season behind only the Clippers as the oldest team in the NBA. Before the trade, last year’s draft picks Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro were the only players on the roster who were 23 years old or younger. The Rockets trade is the only proposal that includes two players on first-round rookie scale contracts.
And while OG Anunoby is probably the best “win-now” player included in the trade, the $176 million left on his contract after this season is a hard no. Brooks can give Phoenix the same production at a quarter of what is owed to Anunoby.
The financial component sealed the deal with Houston. By taking back $11 million less than what is owed to Durant and then releasing Cody Martin and Vasilije Micic, the Suns would drop below the second apron in 2025-26, finally allowing the Suns to aggregate contracts and send out cash in a trade.
— Marks
Jeremy Fowler joins “SportsCenter” to break down Myles Garrett’s record-breaking contract extension with the Browns. (2:08)
The Cleveland Browns and Myles Garrett have agreed on a record contract extension that averages $40 million per year and includes $123.5 million in guaranteed money, making the star defensive end the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, sources told ESPN.
The Browns announced the four-year extension, which runs through the 2030 season, on Sunday but did not disclose financial terms.
Garrett’s agent, Nicole Lynn of Klutch Sports, and Browns general manager Andrew Berry finalized the deal Sunday, according to sources, ending a standoff that started last month when Garrett requested a trade out of Cleveland.
The extension also includes a no-trade clause, according to sources, and re-establishes Garrett’s Hall of Fame trajectory that he referred to as “Cleveland to Canton.”
The sides agreed to the deal two days after reports circulated that Browns owner Jimmy Haslam recently declined a request to meet with Garrett over the trade request and instead referred the four-time All-Pro to Berry.
Both Garrett and the Browns had been dug in on their respective stances — the former NFL Defensive Player of the Year wanted to be traded to a contender, and the organization was adamant that they would not acquiesce to the request.
Garrett officially announced his trade request on Feb. 3, saying in a statement that his “goal was never to go from Cleveland to Canton, it has always been to compete for and win a Super Bowl.”
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Garrett had previously mentioned that he did not want to endure another rebuild with the Browns, who are coming off a 3-14 season and hold the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft amid uncertainty at their quarterback position.
Garrett’s deal also eclipses the value of the recent extension signed by Las Vegas Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby, who agreed Wednesday to a three-year, $106.5 million deal that made him the league’s highest-paid non-quarterback at the time.
This past season, Garrett became the first player to record 100 career sacks before his 29th birthday since sacks became an official stat in 1982. He was named the AP Defensive Player of the Year for the 2023 season, and his 14 sacks in 2024 ranked second in the NFL.
The Browns originally selected Garrett with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft. Since entering the league, Garrett’s 102.5 sacks only trails the Pittsburgh Steelers’ T.J. Watt, who has 108.
ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi contributed to this report.
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Phoenix Suns ‘Ideal Return’ For Kevin Durant Is Hefty Price For Miami Heat
After the Phoenix Suns reportedly shopped Kevin Durant in this year’s trade deadline, it’s become clear to many around the league the relationship comes to end this offseason.
Now, we’ve gotten an update to what the Suns may ask for in return.
According to The Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin, “Sources informed The Republic the most ideal return on a Durant trade is regaining three first-round picks and a young player as part of a multi-team deal tied to getting under the second apron.”
With multiple tradeable first-round picks and some intriguing young players, the Miami Heat potentially could check off those boxes for the Suns this summer.
Durant is due to make $54.7 million in the final year of his deal next season. The Suns do not control their first round picks all the way through 2032.
“It’s part of the business,” Durant post-trade deadline. “Everybody is bought and sold in this league. Anybody can be up for auction.”
Durant continued: “I didn’t want to move and I get why you want to trade me, simple fact that’s business but for me looking at it. We can play the season out and if that’s the decision you want to make in the off-season then we figure it out.”
According to Rankin, “Sources informed The Arizona Republic that Durant’s camp was upset Phoenix put him in trade talks before the 2025 deadline last month as he rejected a move back to Golden State where he won back-to-back NBA titles and Finals MVPs.”
Rankin continued: “However, between the Suns having already looked to move Durant, him publicly saying he understood it and his camp taking issue with those talks, it’s hard to see him staying in Phoenix beyond this season.”
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania on NBA Countdown, “The stakes are high. Unless there is a significant run here into the playoffs for the Phoenix Suns, league sorces believe that there will be real chages in Phoenix coming to the Suns, and from a roster standpoint, that likely starts with Kevin Durant, and when we look back ot the trade deadline, we remenber Kevin Durant was blindsided when he was involved in trade conversatons, but this offseason from my understanding, what it would look like is the Suns and Durant would work together on any potential trade to a contender in a trade scenario. I would expect 4-6 teams with some serious involvement in Kevin Durant.”
“They’re going to trade him, and he knows that,” said Brian Windhorst on ESPN’s ‘Get Up’.
REPORT: MIAMI HEAT EXPECTED TO PURSUE KEVIN DURANT IN OFFSEASON
The Miami Heat have been able to land big-name superstars over the past few decades.
Now, Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant may soon be added to the list.
The Suns are having a rough season. Many in league circles expect the Suns to part with Durant this coming offseason with the team sitting at 29-33, even outside the Play-In Tournament.
The teams expected to pursue Durant this summer are the Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers according to Ashish Mathur of HoopsWire.
The Suns reportedly shopped Durant prior to this season’s trade deadline. However, Durant did not want to be traded midseason like he did in 2023 while with the Brooklyn Nets.
The Heat just experienced their own situation with a superstar being traded after shipping Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors on Feb. 5. There were reports stating the Warriors were prioritizing the idea of re-acquiring Durant instead of fully pursuing Butler. However, after Durant publicly rejected a trade to return to Golden State, the Warriors made the play for Butler.
Even at 36 years old, Durant is playing high-level basketball. He is averaging 26.9 points, six rebounds, and 4.2 assists while shooting 52 percent from the field.
“Durant doesn’t have a no-trade clause in his contract, but he and the Suns are expected to work together on a trade so he can land somewhere he wants to be,” Mathur added.
If the Heat can land Durant, a trio of him, Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo could catapult the team as favorites in the Eastern Conference.
Alex, who was born in Miami, has been the producer and co-host reporter for the Five on the Floor podcast since 2019. He studied journalism at Florida International. He is a season credential holder for the Miami Heat.
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The Oklahoma City Thunder’s greatest star of all time, Kevin Durant, might be on the move this summer to a new team. After spending three years with the Phoenix Suns, it seems he’s done with the franchise.
Fadeaway World’s Eddie Bitar had an idea of where he might go, and it’s a shocker. Bitar predicted Durant would get traded to the Los Angeles Lakers to form a Big Three with LeBron James and Luka Doncic.
The trade would look like this:
Los Angeles Lakers get: Kevin Durant
Phoenix Suns get: Austin Reaves, Jarred Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht, Maxi Kleber, 2031 First-Round Pick, 2028 First-Round Pick Swap, 2032 Second-Round Pick
“The Lakers’ spacing would go from great to unfair, and Durant’s underrated defensive impact would solidify their title chances,” Bitar wrote. “It’s an all-in move, but one that could give LeBron his fifth ring, Luka his first, and the Lakers a shot at a dynasty to rival any in NBA history. For a franchise that lives for the spotlight, this might be a risk worth taking.”
This trade honestly works for both sides. The Suns get their future back that they traded away when forming their super team, and the Lakers get that last piece to help LeBron win now before he retires.
This trade is also ironic, since Durant would be joining up with a player in LeBron who stopped him from winning an NBA championship with the Thunder in 2012, which was the closest the Thunder ever got to one. It would also be the second time Durant joined a team or player that beat him, after he left OKC in 2016 to join the Golden State Warriors.
If this trade is even considered, the whole NBA needs to get prepared for the amount of star power L.A. would have.
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TJ Morin is a Sports Media graduate of Butler University. When he isn’t writing, or arguing about sports, he’s sitting on the couch with his dad cheering for one of their various teams, the Washington Commanders, the Boston Celtics, the Boston Red Sox, the Virginia Cavaliers and the Butler Bulldogs. TJ can be found ranting about them on X @_Big_3_Sports_.
