Now that the offseason has arrived, the Phoenix Suns are trying to trade Kevin Durant . Though, this isn't the first time they've tried to trade the 15-time All-Star, they also shopped him ahead of last season's trade deadline.
One of the teams that reportedly drove a hard bargain for Durant at that time was the Minnesota Timberwolves . They're back in the hunt this offseason, along with the Miami Heat and Houston Rockets , who are said to be " one or two pieces away " from completing a trade for Durant. While the Heat and the Rockets are believed to be on Durant's short list of preferred landing spots, the Timberwolves are not.
Durant has just one year left on his contract, and the teams that may be willing to offer him the most, could be hoping to sign the future Hall of Famer to a two-year contract extension. Yet, unless the Timberwolves or another team gets some sort of commitment from Durant that he'll be there for longer than just one year, they may not be willing to part with as many assets.
Thus, whether Durant is willing to sign an extension with his new team is a fairly big deal. Yet, according to The Athletic's Sam Amick , the Suns may have misled the Timberwolves in their previous Durant trade discussions last season.
"It is messy. The Suns tried to work more closely with [Durant] and his agent Rich Kleiman now, but the backstory of course is how we got here, how in February they didn't work in concert with those guys at all and they did it in the dark of night. I think the Timberwolves are confused because in February, the Suns were sending a message to Minnesota that Kevin would be OK going there. They got that intel. Except found out that 'Oh wait, you're really not talking to Kevin. You don't actually know how he feels.'"
Negotiating in bad faith shouldn't impact the Suns this time around, considering Phoenix has overhauled its front office and has a new general manager calling the shots.
While reports have suggested Durant vetoed a trade involving the Nets and Suns that would have sent him to the Timberwolves, Minnesota remains in the hunt, and getting a contract extension commitment may not even matter that much.
"The #Timberwolves are still in the KD mix" 👀
– @DWolfsonKSTP on what he's heard regarding Kevin Durant pic.twitter.com/o1odpSvjOp— SKOR North – Minnesota Sports (@SKORNorth) June 19, 2025
Related: NBA insider on Kevin Durant trade offers: 'Classic Phoenix s— show'
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