Kevin Durant Rumors

[Phenom]

I just read a great rumor that would make me incredibly excited for next season. Minnesota, Phoenix, and Houston are working on a deal that would send KD to Minnesota and Randle to Houston. Apparently a 4th team is trying to get involved. C'mon TC!!

A Randle and Sengun front court would be interesting from a skill standpoint.

[Phenom]

I was thinking about the rumors of Goberts name being in trade talks and I think I get it now. If the Suns can acquire him before the new league year, it would shave off money for them when his salary drops next month. The challenge is they are both 2nd apron teams until then. If they could figure it out before then it would be a sneaky way to cut salary. It sounds like talks are picking up steam so we may know soon.

[Monster]

Shams said many team officials believe KD will be traded by the draft. It’s just not feasible for the Wolves to be a pre-draft, or day-of-draft, trade partner. They cannot do it as a 2nd apron team, which does not go away until July.

They could have all the pieces in place to make a an agreed deal that goes into effect July 1. That's what less than 3 weeks away? Now if the Suns are trying to get picks to make some sort of trade up in the draft for a player...then that might be a problem. Connelly seems to be pretty creative.

[Lipoli390]

I just read a great rumor that would make me incredibly excited for next season. Minnesota, Phoenix, and Houston are working on a deal that would send KD to Minnesota and Randle to Houston. Apparently a 4th team is trying to get involved. C'mon TC!!

You know how I feel about trading for Durant. But if it’s just Randle I could be OK with it so long as it not include any other outgoing Wolves assets. But honestly, I’d take Randle over Durant. If TC believes we need to bring in an impact player, then I’d much rather see us seek a deal for Derrick White.

[Lipoli390]

The interest in Durant among Wolves fans seems based on a fantasy notion of Durant as the player he was 6 years ago. Yes, he can still shoot and score efficiently but that’s it. He’s a huge defensive liability who is 37 and likely to miss at least 20 games coming with a price tag of $54 million per year.

[Monster]

There is no trade for Durant that makes any sense for the Wolves. To fully appreciate how nonsensical trading for Durant is we have to appreciate who he actually is today. So consider the following:

1. He’ll turn 37 before next season, which means he’s not nearly the player he was in his prime, should be expected to decline further and will likely be even less durable than he’s been. I’ve gone back and looked at NBA player stats and one thing that jumps off the page is that players in their mid-30s don’t just declined gradually, they have years in that time frame when their overall performance dips precipitously. If you want a good example, take a look at our own Mike Conley from two seasons ago to last season.

2. Durant can’t be counted on to play because of ongoing durability issues. He missed 20 games last season and has played more than 62 games in only one of his last five seasons. You don’t get more durable when you turn 37.

3. Durant was once a terrific defender, but he’s been a bad defender over the past five seasons since his Achilles injury and a terrible defendeer the past two seasons. He had a defensive rating of 118.9 last season, nearly as bad as Trae Young’s 119.4 (Source: StatMuse).

4. Durant has not proven to be a winner over the past five seasons. This past season, paired with Devin Booker, his Suns didn’t even make the playoffs. The prior season, his Suns were bounced by the Wolves in the first round. The season before his team was knocked out in the Conference Semifinals. The season before than his Nets were knocked out in the first round. The season before that his Nets were bounced in the Conference semis. The season before that he sat out from his Achilles tear. You have to go back six seasons to see him as a playoff winner when the Warriors won the title. Of course, he was paired with the same trio of stars who had previously won a championship and set the season record for most wins before he arrived.

5. He’s due $54 million. That’s a lot of money to pay a 37 year old who typically misses at least 20 games, had one of the worst defensive ratings in the League, and hasn’t proven to be a winner in six years.

6. He’d only have one year of value unless we offered him a longer term deal, which would make even less sense given his age and price tag.

And I haven’t even gotten to the issue of the players and assets we’d have to give up. Trading a ton of non-core assets for a 30 year old center with the best defensive metrics in the entire league had merit. Trading anything of value for the 37 year old Durant would not. We’d also be trading those assets to a Conference rival - another bad aspect of such a deal.

If it’s true that TC is seriously considering trading for Durant, then I might have to retract my earlier praise and expression of confidence in him. I’m hoping it’s just a lot of noise put out by the Suns and Durant’s camp for leverage.

Lots of good points here Lip. My thing is how much are the Wolves giving up to get him? If the Wolves basically give up one reasonable asset to upgrade him from Randle that seems like a reasonable consideration. Randle might not be a guy that should stick long term either even though I'm a fan of his and kinda want him to stay. Durant is flawed and all that but last year he was a really good player and his size and skill will age well if he can stay healthy. Compare that to Randle who also has issues staying healthy.

Something to consider when it comes to Durant and defense. 2 years ago Durant led the Suns in minutes played and they were 13th in defensive rating. Frank Vogel was the head coach. Idk if there was a coach in the NBA last year that did more poorly with the roster they had to work with than Budenholzer. Durant might be playing on the same roster as Gobert. That's gonna be helpful and would give the frontcourt a ton of length. Rudy Durant and McDaniels and Naz if he came back is a lot of length.

FWIW my uncle that isn't always a huge NBA fan but has been watching the playoffs for the past few years and is a pretty keen sports mind although we don't agree all the time said he would do what it takes to get Durant. I thought it was an interesting take especially since he is definitely more of an old school guy. He said adding Durant especially in the playoffs would just be huge. It would not be surprising to me if Durant was still dropping 25ppg when he is 40. Yes there is a legit chance of a droppoff but he also isn't Mike Conley who is a small PG and had been beating father time till this season. Durant is one of the greatest scorers of all time with SG skills with the size of a center.

[60WinTim]

I don’t know, Lip. I had just assumed there was no way a KD trade would go down. But, damn, there is a hell of a lot of smoke out there! And where there is smoke…

I have completely flipped my opinion now. Go get KD! It fits everything TC is about: surround ANT with players that keeps him in the fast lane to becoming the best he can be. Last year the most glaring weakness was adding an additional playmaker: Julius Randle. This year a glaring weakness was a reliable scorer alongside ANT — a year or two of KD would address that weakness.

I trust TC to keep finding ways to address our immediate needs, while still keeping the cupboard filled with talent that can sustain the winning after KD’s time expires.

[Q-is-here]

I don’t know, Lip. I had just assumed there was no way a KD trade would go down. But, damn, there is a hell of a lot of smoke out there! And where there is smoke…

I have completely flipped my opinion now. Go get KD! It fits everything TC is about: surround ANT with players that keeps him in the fast lane to becoming the best he can be. Last year the most glaring weakness was adding an additional playmaker: Julius Randle. This year a glaring weakness was a reliable scorer alongside ANT — a year or two of KD would address that weakness.

I trust TC to keep finding ways to address our immediate needs, while still keeping the cupboard filled with talent that can sustain the winning after KD’s time expires.

I'm not sure I was ever totally against it, but I've come around a bit too where I'm probably closer to 60/40 in favor vs. not in favor, ha ha. It really depends on what we give up and what a contract extension might look like.

Lip, this idea that Durant is a horrible defender.....not sure where that's coming from. Granted, I didn't watch him a lot this past season and I have no doubt he isn't a great defender, but he ranks in the 59th percentile in Defensive estimated plus minus versus Randle (49th percentile). And Randle played in between Rudy and Jaden while Durant didn't get any help at Center defensively.

I think Durant will be motivated to get with the program and defend if he is on a contending team and has more help overall.

[AbeVigodaLive]

The interest in Durant among Wolves fans seems based on a fantasy notion of Durant as the player he was 6 years ago. Yes, he can still shoot and score efficiently but that’s it. He’s a huge defensive liability who is 37 and likely to miss at least 20 games coming with a price tag of $54 million per year.

I still think you're overstating Durant's demise defensively.

We're 13 months away from the Suns promoting him for the All-NBA defensive team.



[Note: But the 20 games missed thing does seem like an expectation at this point. The 75 games he played in 2024 seems like the anomaly. The one rub is that it "seems" like the Wolves do fewer rest days than many other teams. I know the players have a say in a lot of that... but do the Wolves have a culture of playing more games? Even Mike Conley played 71 games last year.]

[AbeVigodaLive]

Saw this trade floated today... but I think I'd endorse it...

Randle
DiVincenzo
Dillingham
#17

I'm guessing Dillingham might be the hangup for many. That's the one that could come back to haunt the Wolves if he shakes out as a young, dynamic guard.

The other rub is that it leaves the backcourt is even more disarray, but I imagine that's also going to be addressed, whether it's a Jones brother or someone else.