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 — the future of Durant 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
Latest on Durant in Phoenix
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, 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
Four hypothetical trade offers for KD
Dallas Mavericks
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?
Houston Rockets
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.
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’s currently missing, while Houston would upgrade from Brooks to Durant without sacrificing anyone else from its current core. That seems like a win-win deal.
Miami Heat
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 III trade and a valuable unprotected draft pick in 2030 to replenish the team’s coffers.
New York Knicks
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 that 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
Source: espn.com