Kevin Durant trade rumors: Suns star was interested in Knicks, but New York didn't want him, per report
Durant's preference now is to land with the Heat, Rockets or Spurs
By
Sam Quinn
•
1 min read
Kevin Durant reportedly has his eye on three teams as he seeks a trade away from the Phoenix Suns: the Miami Heat, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs. There was, however, reportedly a fourth team on that list. According to both Marc Stein and ESPN's Marc Spears, Durant was indeed interested in joining the New York Knicks as well. The only problem? The Knicks were not interested in pursuing him.
New York had a few plausible paths to pursuing Durant, but all featured some significant hiccup. They could have built a deal around Karl-Anthony Towns, which would have been fairly workable from a cap perspective. However, Suns insider John Gambadoro reported that Phoenix was not interested in a Towns-centric trade.
That meant, just to match salary, the Knicks would have needed to include several key role players. Such a deal likely would have centered around one of their versatile forwards, OG Anunoby or former Sun Mikal Bridges, as well as Mitchell Robinson, who returned from an injury that kept him out for most of the season to play an enormous role in the playoffs. While such a deal could have made the Knicks unstoppable offensively, it would have deprived them of their entire defensive identity. The Knicks likely decided that a 37-year-old Durant wasn't worth such a steep price.
There's a bit of irony to this reporting, though, when you remember what happened in 2019. At that point, Durant was the most coveted free agent on the market and New York spent months preparing to pursue him. Durant ultimately elected to sign in New York, but with the Brooklyn Nets, not the Knicks. This time around, the roles were seemingly reversed. Durant was interested in going to New York, but the Knicks elected not to pursue the partnership.
For now, the Knicks are focused on hiring a new head coach to replace Tom Thibodeau. The Suns are still in the process of considering offers for Durant from other teams, most notably the Heat, Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves. And Durant is doing what he can to steer the process towards those preferred teams of Houston, Miami or San Antonio. After multiple dalliances, it seems as though Durant and the Knicks just can't get the timing right on a possible partnership.
