Kevin Durant Rumors

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Monster
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Re: Kevin Durant Rumors

Post by Monster »

Lipoli390 wrote: Wed Jun 18, 2025 10:29 pm
Monster wrote: Wed Jun 18, 2025 10:08 pm
Lipoli390 wrote: Wed Jun 18, 2025 8:46 pm

We shouldn’t over-think this. I just think it’s pride and respect. Think about it from Ant’s perspective. Ant has praised Durant as his favorite player - calls KD the GOAT. He played and spent a lot of time with Durant during the Olympics. Now Durant sent word out that he doesn’t want to come to the Wolves where he could play with Ant and take a run at a championship. If I’m Ant, I’m thinking something like: “FU. You know me and you know what this team can do. If you still have no interest in coming here and have your people make that known to the rest of the world, then I’m not going to beg you to come here.”
I'm. A little surprised by this info too but like it's been said before there is a pretty big gap between these guys. It would be like calling up one of the best to do whatever it is you do and be like coke to my company and you are still only 23. Might feel weird to do that. Still Edwards is so Uber confident it feels like he would do it if asked. I coukf absolutely see him being like hell no I'm not convincing anyone to come here if they don't want to.

I think to some extent Durant has a tight circle also. I'm sure he keeps in touch with some of his past teammates a little but he seems like a guy that is gonna be chatting with everyone. Idk how much players can or are supposed to talk right now in these situations. I'll say this if there is much convincing Durant to come here then I'll say I do not want him unless the price is really palatable like Randle and some other asset like Miller or something and I kinda doubt it will be that low.
I think you hit on it, Monster. Ant isn’t a guy who would feel in the least bit shy or intimidated about reaching out to Durant. I’ll add that it can be difficult for fans or even seasoned media guys to get through to an NBA players, but star players dont’ have difficulty getting in touch with one another. Anthony Edwards was the League’s 4th leading scorer last season. He averaged 4.5 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals while shooing just under 40% from behind the arc. He’s probably the League’s biggest personality right now. Oh, and he led his team to the Western Conference Finals. So if I were in Ant’s shoes and Durant told the world he’s not interested in playing on my team, I wouldn’t spend one second of my precious time calling him to convince him to change his mind. Durant should relish the chance to play with Edwards on a team that’s made it to the Western Conference Finals twice in the last two seasons.

Of course, to be fair, would adding Durant but giving up Rudy and Donte make us a better team than last season? I have my doubts and maybe Durant does too. I’m not sure how much of a priority Durant puts on winning. But what seems apparent is that, to the extent he cares about winning, he tries to put himself in the easiest possible position to win. Leaving OKC to sign with the Warriors strikes me as the most obvious example. So maybe Durant has been looking closely at the potential trades and concluded that he’ll be in a better position to win going to one of the other teams than he would be playing on a Wolves team without Rudy, Donte or anyone other than the similarly 37 year old Mike Conley at PG. I question a number of things about Durant, but never his intelligence.
Well there has been reports that Durant has considered exactly what you have suggested. He has now been on at least 2 teams Nets and Suns that basically gutted their rosters to add him and the players to it. It hasn't really worked.

One thing I hadn't considered before but how does Durant feel about Finch and the coaching staff? What if he doesn't think he woukd fit well in with what Finch and his coaches does? He might not even be wrong on that idk I hadn't really thought about it before but it's felt like a couple coaches weren't good enough and moved along that didn't exactly make sense. Why did the Suns fire Vogel?
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Lipoli390
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Re: Kevin Durant Rumors

Post by Lipoli390 »

Monster wrote: Wed Jun 18, 2025 11:46 pm
Lipoli390 wrote: Wed Jun 18, 2025 10:29 pm
Monster wrote: Wed Jun 18, 2025 10:08 pm

I'm. A little surprised by this info too but like it's been said before there is a pretty big gap between these guys. It would be like calling up one of the best to do whatever it is you do and be like coke to my company and you are still only 23. Might feel weird to do that. Still Edwards is so Uber confident it feels like he would do it if asked. I coukf absolutely see him being like hell no I'm not convincing anyone to come here if they don't want to.

I think to some extent Durant has a tight circle also. I'm sure he keeps in touch with some of his past teammates a little but he seems like a guy that is gonna be chatting with everyone. Idk how much players can or are supposed to talk right now in these situations. I'll say this if there is much convincing Durant to come here then I'll say I do not want him unless the price is really palatable like Randle and some other asset like Miller or something and I kinda doubt it will be that low.
I think you hit on it, Monster. Ant isn’t a guy who would feel in the least bit shy or intimidated about reaching out to Durant. I’ll add that it can be difficult for fans or even seasoned media guys to get through to an NBA players, but star players dont’ have difficulty getting in touch with one another. Anthony Edwards was the League’s 4th leading scorer last season. He averaged 4.5 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals while shooing just under 40% from behind the arc. He’s probably the League’s biggest personality right now. Oh, and he led his team to the Western Conference Finals. So if I were in Ant’s shoes and Durant told the world he’s not interested in playing on my team, I wouldn’t spend one second of my precious time calling him to convince him to change his mind. Durant should relish the chance to play with Edwards on a team that’s made it to the Western Conference Finals twice in the last two seasons.

Of course, to be fair, would adding Durant but giving up Rudy and Donte make us a better team than last season? I have my doubts and maybe Durant does too. I’m not sure how much of a priority Durant puts on winning. But what seems apparent is that, to the extent he cares about winning, he tries to put himself in the easiest possible position to win. Leaving OKC to sign with the Warriors strikes me as the most obvious example. So maybe Durant has been looking closely at the potential trades and concluded that he’ll be in a better position to win going to one of the other teams than he would be playing on a Wolves team without Rudy, Donte or anyone other than the similarly 37 year old Mike Conley at PG. I question a number of things about Durant, but never his intelligence.
Well there has been reports that Durant has considered exactly what you have suggested. He has now been on at least 2 teams Nets and Suns that basically gutted their rosters to add him and the players to it. It hasn't really worked.

One thing I hadn't considered before but how does Durant feel about Finch and the coaching staff? What if he doesn't think he woukd fit well in with what Finch and his coaches does? He might not even be wrong on that idk I hadn't really thought about it before but it's felt like a couple coaches weren't good enough and moved along that didn't exactly make sense. Why did the Suns fire Vogel?
Really interesting thought on the coaching angle, Monster. That hadn’t occurred to me. It’s been widely reported that Durant was a major force behind the firing of Vogel.
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TheFuture
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Re: Kevin Durant Rumors

Post by TheFuture »

Durant can come here next year on his own accord as a FA on a vet min after we win the Finals.

Over it.
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Phenom
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Re: Kevin Durant Rumors

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Pat McAfee: Shams: “The Suns have a price threshold that they want met in a trade for Kevin Durant and I had one team tell me today it’s a game of chicken right now.. The Rockets, Heat, and Timberwolves are literally one or two pieces away from getting a deal done”

Please do not trade any picks or young guns. Vets only.
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TheFuture
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Re: Kevin Durant Rumors

Post by TheFuture »

Phenom wrote: Thu Jun 19, 2025 2:03 pm Pat McAfee: Shams: “The Suns have a price threshold that they want met in a trade for Kevin Durant and I had one team tell me today it’s a game of chicken right now.. The Rockets, Heat, and Timberwolves are literally one or two pieces away from getting a deal done”

Please do not trade any picks or young guns. Vets only.
Agreed, it's just really hard to facilitate without using young players or completely changing our team. This is the only thing I could come up with that would allow us to keep our young guys and picks, and I don't know if it's fair all around or not:

MN out: Rudy, Randle, DDV, Minott, 31
MN in: Durant, Claxton, Nick Richards

PHO out: Durant, Richards
PHO in: Rudy, Minott, picks 19, 27, 31

BKN out: Claxton, picks 19 and 27
BKN in: Randle, DDV

MN now has Durant and two decent and young centers. Does it make the team better? I don't think so, but possibly. They keep their 1st, the cap situation stays about the same, but they still need a vet pg and lose any real ability to contract match in a trade. Would need to try to lure one for cheap in FA.

PHO now has a defensive center for Booker and Beal, get a flyer in Minott, and would have picks 19, 27,29,31 to work with. They'd also get out of the aprons. Is that enough for Durant?

BKN now has a couple of proven NBA talents to try to be somewhat competitive in the East. They'd retain picks 8 and 19, and keep plenty of cap for FA. They'd need to re-sign D'Lo or a different FA pg like Tyus and find a C like Capela in FA. A lineup of D'Lo or Tyus/DDV/Johnson/ Randle/Capela isn't terrible. Probably atrocious to watch, but they'd win some games. Would still be in search of their star. But they have cap and a good handful of future picks to work with.

Is that fair for all teams? I'm really not sure.
Last edited by TheFuture on Thu Jun 19, 2025 3:55 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Crazysauce
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Re: Kevin Durant Rumors

Post by Crazysauce »

So was thinking about this today. TC is very tight lipped in any trade talks. All this stuff leaked to the media is coming from the suns side. They clearly aren't getting what they want and are trying to drive up the price. I don't even know if I really believe Durant doesn't want to play in Minnesota. Saw a report they wanted 2 starters and a 1st. Sounds like them trying to get other teams to up what they are offering. Hope TC isn't dumb on this deal
D-Loser25
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Re: Kevin Durant Rumors

Post by D-Loser25 »

Phenom wrote: Thu Jun 19, 2025 2:03 pm Pat McAfee: Shams: “The Suns have a price threshold that they want met in a trade for Kevin Durant and I had one team tell me today it’s a game of chicken right now.. The Rockets, Heat, and Timberwolves are literally one or two pieces away from getting a deal done”

Please do not trade any picks or young guns. Vets only.
Yes, if TC trades either Dilly or Shannon for KD, my opinion of him instantly changes to “he’s an idiot” and any of his other trades that succeeded were just purely dumb luck. Also, if he trades Rudy without having a good plan to backfill, he goes to the idiot category as well. Randle, DDV and 31 is fine, anything beyond, I’m pissed
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Crazysauce
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Re: Kevin Durant Rumors

Post by Crazysauce »

Randle DDV and 31 was exactly what I would be most comfortable with. If they insist on Rudy I would pry do it but only if we have a plan to get Sorber in the draft
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BloopOracle
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Re: Kevin Durant Rumors

Post by BloopOracle »

Randle DDV Shannon Jr and 17 for KD with extension is the most I would be able to stomach
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FNG
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Re: Kevin Durant Rumors

Post by FNG »

BloopOracle wrote: Thu Jun 19, 2025 7:41 pm Randle DDV Shannon Jr and 17 for KD with extension is the most I would be able to stomach
I actually might do that too, Bloop. But I would ask for one more thing...a strong statement from both TC and Finchy saying they had both met with KD and got assurance that not only did he want to come to Minnesota, but also that he was excited about playing for a championship with Ant and Rudy. Without that, I wouldn't give up anything.

Maybe they need to get Glen Taylor to gaze into KD's eyes like he did with Wiggins?
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