Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns looks on against the Golden State Warriors during the first half of an NBA basketball game at Chase Center on Jan. 31, 2025, in San Francisco.
Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
It looks like there was some method to the desperate trade deadline madness for the Golden State Warriors, as their attempts to pursue Kevin Durant are actually more legitimate than once thought.
Multiple reports now link the two-time NBA Finals MVP with a possible Bay Area return. A three-bylined story in the Athletic published Tuesday has Durant heading to Golden State for “an exorbitant asking price … essentially everything of future value,” but only in theory, as no deal is in place. What’s less theoretical are the players Phoenix has its eyes on: Jonathan Kuminga and even Draymond Green, who shares an alma mater with Suns owner Matt Ishbia.
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Then came a co-bylined story from Marc Stein and Jake Fischer’s on the former’s eponymous Substack, also published Tuesday. They noted that the Warriors aren’t the only team the Suns have talked with for Durant, although none of those other suitors were named. Stein and Fischer also explained how these rumors became possible in the first place. The Suns want rumored Warriors target Jimmy Butler, but they can’t afford his contract alongside all their other stars. Durant became the odd man out for reasons that aren’t quite clear to the reporters, but, ultimately, “rumbles persist that a scenario that transports Butler from South Beach to the desert — with Durant moving back to the Bay Area — is indeed in play.”
ESPN’s morning shows naturally covered these developments Wednesday, with Brian Windhorst adding his own reporting and speculation to the mix. On “Get Up,” he couldn’t definitively say whether this trade will happen, but the potential transaction could involve as many as five teams, as the range of salaries combined with new Collective Bargaining Agreement rules requires some elite accounting maneuvers. If there was any doubt on his end, he hedged it.
“I’ve got to tell you, as you can hear as I describe this, it sounds complicated — it is,” Windhorst said. “I do not want to imply that anything is going to happen. I have no idea how you go back on this if it doesn’t work, because now the world does know that the Warriors are trying to get KD back and re-pair him with Stephen Curry.”
He maintained this mantra when he appeared on “First Take,” the next show of ESPN’s morning bloc. He called a potential trade “very difficult” and once again admitted, “I have no idea how it’s going to work out.” Like Stein and Fischer, Windhorst said other teams are in play for Durant, but he also did not provide alternate suitors. Instead, he concluded, “I can’t predict which avenue this is going, but it is possible that Kevin Durant could be on the move yet again at the trade deadline.”
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If something is going to happen with Durant — whether it’s a trade to Golden State or anywhere else — there’s only around 25 hours to do so. Arizona Republic reporter Duane Rankin shared an update on social media of all the players at the team’s shootaround on Wednesday. One of those guys was Durant, but reports since shootaround have indicated that an ankle injury will keep him out of Wednesday night’s game for Phoenix, the final one before Thursday’s trade deadline at noon Pacific.
Feb 5, 2025
