Knicks & Spurs Not So Interested In Kevin Durant, Did Phoenix Suns Overestimate Trade Market?

today on locked on Phoenix Suns there’s a team that got thrown out of the KD sweepstakes almost immediately the New York Knicks they didn’t want him at all now depending on who you’re listening to the Spurs might be following in their lead did everybody just misread the market break it down next you are Locked On Suns your daily Phoenix Suns podcast part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day welcome back in to Locked on Phoenix Suns i’m Brendan Clean a staff writer at a announcing and a credentialed Suns Media member thank you for making Locked Ons your first listen here on this Wednesday don’t forget Locked on Suns free and available on all platforms including YouTube so click that follow or subscribe button do what thousands of other Suns fans have already done become an everydayer get locked on to the Phoenix Suns right here each and every day today’s episode guys brought to you by the wonderful people at Game Time the best place to buy any ticket download the Game Time app right now create an account and use the code locked on NBA when you do to get $20 off your first purchase lots of KD rumors and reports and uh theories we’ll even say to get to joining me to do it as always from the wonderful West Valley my fellow Suns Credential media member how are we feeling Ben Garcia i’m starting to like it’s not like we don’t have content like I’m doing great from that aspect but kind of getting tired man i’m I’m ready for a trade to go down i know in two weeks well probably like three weeks when we don’t have a ton to talk about katie’s traded we’ll be starve for this kind of stuff but I’m kind of ready to move on i don’t know where you’re going to watch Ryan Kulk Brener in summer league i don’t even know who that is so I guess so guy I’m excited to watch says the Suns are gonna pick oh I thought you I thought you meant like a guy that’s on the Suns it’s like I have no idea who that is but I was going to say I’m ready to watch Jaylen Bridges pick number 29 whoever that becomes that’s what we’re going to be talking about how he play him man yeah I I Well let’s get to it because it uh this report actually came out on Monday but there was just so much yesterday to get to that we didn’t do it but Mark Spears on NBA today live from the finals broke down broke the news I should say that KD wanted the Knicks that that there was a fair bit of interest in the early stages of the off season for Durant to head to New York and obviously we heard pretty quickly early on in this whole thing that they weren’t interested we kind of talked through that at the time but you kind of add that in Ben with the growing sense I would say especially from San Antonio’s standpoint right now where they seem to be very reticent to speed up their building process maybe actually doing better in the lottery re rejiggered their priorities a little bit i don’t necessarily know the why but they are not as aggressive as they seem to want and that at the same time appears to be Katie’s number one preference so I’m not going to pretend to know just from a couple reports his exact order of what he want where he wanted to go but it feels like you could make a case that the top two places he would have liked to be both are kind of either pushing back or or really slow rolling their pursuit of him what does that tell you did did he misinterpret this did the Suns do something wrong is it all just kind of fake negotiating in public like what do you make of that idea that that he could have gone 0 for two i have so many thoughts on this uh but first I would say I would like to know if there was any dialogue between the Suns and Knicks like were the Knicks unwilling to part with Carl Anthony Towns to get to get Kevin Durant because that would be really eye opening to me or was it they have no interest in breaking up one of OG and and Josh Hart or whatever it looked like for Kevin Durant they’re like “Yeah it’s not worth it to us we don’t want to break up our team to that degree.” And or is it C of like I I know Kevin Durant’s awesome but like he does come with his own baggage a little bit and you’re going to deal with the off the court stuff nothing crazy but you’re going to be seeing topics of him on social or I’m sorry on every platform because he’s clapping back at fans all the time like Kevin Durant is a he’s a different guy man he’s got a different personality i don’t think if this was Steph Curry at 37 I do think that there’s more of a market for him because he’s more of a lubricator and I don’t think as much of a I don’t think KD is an agitator but he also isn’t willing to be the lead man so I I just think there’s a lot to it man and so I would I would just go with like I think he just misread how much how much other teams think of him is what I would go towards i think that’s totally fair i think that he’s never been confronted this is the first time this has ever happened you know you think about in 2016 when he became a free agent right mhm he was saying no to the Lakers to the Celtics to his hometown Wizards you know what I mean and then you go to it sort of just came together quickly when he p picked Kyrie and went to Brooklyn in the summer of 2019 but then you fast forward to the trademark in 2022 when the Suns were on the hot seat to go get him and then it’s the Raptors are nipping at their heels and and the Celtics could they trade Jaylen Brown what the hell are we talk like and now it it’s the reality of being a guy who’s about to be 37 and is going to be highly paid and doesn’t have the the benefit that LeBron and Luca or LeBron and Luca LeBron and Curry have where they just get to stick with their big market competitive teams until the end if they want to this whole thing imploded around Kevin Durant and now he he sort of has to go somewhere else because he’s not gonna win here and yet he’s not as desirable and as valuable at his price and at his age as he once was so I I do think it’s it’s pretty interesting as for the Knicks to me the thing is I imagine that they just valued their centers too much because I mean I I don’t think that they are in love with Carl Anthony Towns there was some reporting right after the season that his defense frustrated his teammates and you know there’s always the things that come with Towns in terms of fit but you just look around the league and if you only got Towns and Mitchell Robinson you probably got to keep Towns and Mitchell Robinson you can’t switch one of those two guys up even if they’re not perfect for another forward and we talked about that positional problem from the jump with New York so I think that’s what it was that the two the two packages that made the most sense all along were probably Hart plus Robinson plus stuff or Towns plus stuff either way you end up getting rid of a big and bringing in another forward so that that’s where it comes down i don’t think it’s any big sign of disrespect to KD personally like they they it just they already have Bridges they already have Anobi they’ve already made two big moves for forwards it the trade just didn’t line up to do it the way that they were going to have to do it you just said that it’s it’s not disrespectful towards KD could I point it towards it’s reasonably disrespectful like he is an all-time great i think he’s a top 10 player i don’t think you have him there but I think he’s otherworldly talented and still even at 36 years old 37 when the season starts he’s still pretty awesome but teams aren’t willing to gamble on their future on Kevin Durant simply because of his age and like I Yeah but I think is I feel like the Knicks would would gamble I don’t think the gambling the future part is what was holding the Knicks in particular back they’ve gambled their future every single offseason transaction that they’ve made for a while now all in for Anobi all in for male all in for Cat i think that to me it’s more of Kevin Durant’s not what they needed they couldn’t guard anybody and they weren’t deep that’s their problem and apparently they thought the coach was rubbing against the players and everything so they’re going to go out and solve coach they’re going to try to get deeper I would guess and they’re going to try to figure out a way to to either defend better or I guess just become so unstoppable on offense that it doesn’t matter but that brings us to the Spurs which is a whole different type of team you’ve I’ll give you credit like you’ve been on the idea that that that was one of the better matches even though I was skeptical from the jump but I do still think that the one part of my being a little bit having a having a reservation a little bit about that that potential partnership is maybe what’s holding the Spurs back it’s still just oh okay are we really ready right now to go out and be competing for a championship with no chemistry between Webby and Fox yet Vic coming back from a freaking blood clot which is a scary thing to do we already have to integrate the number two pick provided we’re not sending it away in a trade which which they’re probably not i I just I I think that there’s a clear limit i I think that they’re way more in than New York is like let’s get that straight but I think that they’re also kind of sitting there same thing do we want to spend the money do we want to try to go all in for this small window that Katie has left do we want to accelerate things so much so um but but for it’s Sorry I just was saying I think we’re finishing up there it’s just like I think it’s a calculated risk like no and you and I have talked about this would I trade Castle for KD no would I ask for it if I was the Suns yeah would I trade the two pick for KD you would definitely say hell no but I think that there are calculated risks in life of like if I send the 14th overall pick Sohan Vel and Barnes like it’s not about it’s not about the limit of of I hear you that’s not a lot i’m not trying to say the package is too much i’m not even really talking about the package i’m saying what it represents to bring a 37year-old Hall of Famer onto your team what that says is every single thing about what we were as a team is now different we were a team that was rebuilding and retooling around Victor Wimyama now we’re a team where Victor Wimmanyama needs to be the second or third best player on a team that is expected to be in sniffing distance of the NBA finals that’s a whole different ballgame that that’s a whole change of what you are as an organization in in an instant when you did not expect to be doing that so that’s what I think is is maybe holding back the Spurs is what use is there for uh I don’t know like Jeremy Sohan for like let’s say they keep him in the trade well is that even a guy you can afford to give minutes to anymore because you’re now you got to go win a title you know what I mean is that that’s sort of where I’m at is the ex that you’re hitting the gas so hard and I just don’t know if they’re ready to do that at some point you’re going to have to hit the gas i don’t think everything is gradual the Suns went from a bubble team that didn’t make the playoffs to a finals team the next year so I don’t think it hurt them okc was a slow growth indiana wasn’t well I guess Indiana was as well they went to the Eastern Conference Finals last year so it’s worked both ways i just I’m just I’m surprised by the Spurs i think they could have won this competition fairly easily if the Suns w would not be unreasonable and ask for the two pick or castle um but if I I just think it’s a small price to pay to be the to be a I think a legitimate contender in the West and who knows what happens kd is still a good defender and you’re not giving up much but I get it i think it’s caught Kevin Durant by surprise though absolutely that that’s a good way to tie a bow on it because it is it is showing us that the the the bullseye in the middle of this is a lot smaller than I think he expected it to be and probably than the Suns did because you’re seeing the Spurs hey we’re too young we want to slow things down we’re not quite ready and then you have the Knicks well we’re already too all in you don’t quite fit we don’t have all the pieces to get it done it doesn’t perfectly line up financially two opposite ends of the thing and yet both of them are sitting there saying the same thing eh not for us so that’s why the list is maybe smaller than people might have thought we’ll close out the show with what we think the best deal is right now and how maybe even the two teams we just talked about probably not the Knicks but the Spurs for sure could become the best deal but we got to talk about what might happen if that bullseye is too small to hit at all in the news today people talking about the Suns keeping KD is that realistic at all next first today’s show brought to you by the Game Time app there’s nothing like the NBA Finals the intensity the buzzer beaters the fans losing 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locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account redeem code LOC ke NBA for $20 off download the Game Time app today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed all right Ben let’s keep the show rolling so this uh was I would say put out and and blown up by Brian Winhorse today in an appearance at ESPN Cleveland where he does a weekly hit on the radio and kind of just ends up talking about the whole league he said ‘I would not rule out the Suns not being able to get a trade they like and having to make a decision like do we trade do we not trade him at all i think there’s been some other people of course that kind of leapt on that we had Dwayne Rankin reporting on Tuesday that the Suns leverage is kind of in the tank because they it’s an open secret that they’re going to trade him he only has the one year all the stuff we already knew it was just a down day in the marketplace let’s say the stock market of Kevin Durant went down a lot of points on Tuesday and and people were kind of wondering could Wendy’s speculation or spitballing be right Ben and I mean we were sort of talking about that down the stretch of the season but then the ankle sprain and missing the playoffs and now you’re this far into the trade negotiations i find it hard to imagine that they could keep him but they also can’t just take a terrible deal so what what’s where’s this headed well I think it’s important to immediately kind of decipher what Wendy was doing here i think you and I both agree i think this was Wendy’s spitballing i don’t think this was him reporting or the Suns telling him “Hey leak this that we just might hang out with you know we just might have Kevin Durant going into next season.” I think everyone knows like some leaks are just so stupid and some rumors are just so stupid like there’s no point to the Suns to leak those other teams immediately heard that and said “Yeah okay run it back i dare you i see how see how well that went.” Yeah I agree he he was just doing a radio hit and and talking NBA he wasn’t trying to sit there and and and do a whole you know uh reporters could have half of anybody yeah exactly i think it is silly just just silly to think that Kevin Durant could run it back with the Suns this has been a a long time coming if you consider February a long time where he’s been on the trade market for a while man and the market has spoken it’s not as diverse as maybe we thought it would be and uh Kevin Durant like it’s just too toxic here man it doesn’t work anymore he kind of wears out as welcome I think after a couple years and I think it’s not so much him but it’s the front office being like “Okay we we have to move on.” I think there is a chance that Kevin Rant would want to play here it’s it’s Phoenix man but at the end of the day like no what’s the like I I just need one tangible reason why you would bring Kevin Durant back next year you’re not competing for a title i mean if you’re not going to pay the guy it’s time to move on and it’s best to do it now rather than later well that’s the thing right you talk about paying him i think that that’s kind of where you have to to go with the conversation is if the trade market is so terrible which I I I don’t think either one of us think it’s so bad that they aren’t going to find a single deal they would want to say yes to so it is a little farfetched but if you just play it out as a possibility you keep him he’s still eligible for an extension if at age 37 you don’t pay him you’re kind of holding him hostage right it’s pretty pretty cutthroat to say we’re going to make you play out your final season risk injury and potentially your last chance at a major payday in your NBA career given you’ve already had multiple pretty significant injuries and you’re older and and then if you do pay him uh so let’s say you offer him I guess he could try to say no and then and then choose to to play it out i don’t think he would do that but he also doesn’t want to be here for the rest of his career because it doesn’t give him the best chance to win so then you’re almost holding him hostage in a different way you’re holding him hostage in a bad situation so if you thought it was tense in February when they tried to trade him a little bit behind his back and things got awkward and the relationship was damaged i mean the the reality of keeping him it’s just gonna get uglier and uglier than that so I I just don’t think it’s tenable to to to go down either one of those pathways because that extension is such a key part of all this if the trade offers are that bad like just laughably bad let’s say the Spurs are like “We’ll give you Facel Barnes couple of second round picks.” Like it’s just so laughably bad if you think you can get the same offers at the trade deadline for Kevin Durant then why not run him out there until February with a promise of like “Hey man we’re going to get rid of you anyways because we’ll take whatever we can get.” I guess there’s some So then do you extend him in that case though no no no i wouldn’t extend him and I But like I I know I don’t think I would either if I’m Matt Ishpia but then I mean you’re leaving him high and dry there well sure but I don’t team that would that would take him even if they’re off even if he’s a smart enough guy to understand that you can’t accept Vel Barnes in two seconds or something terrible like that he’s also thinking it of of it from the standpoint of okay but if you took that then I would get my money so you’re standing in the way of my money you know and I got to go play for you for 50 games i understand it’s it’s sports they’re paid $100 million all that kind of stuff we can always say but like it it is it’s at least unprecedented in the standards of the NBA to to to treat a guy like that totally get it however everyone is not you a lot of people are frustrated with Bradley Beiel right and I promise there’s a point to this because they claim Bradley Beal is holding the Suns hostage he’s got a no trade clause he’s got a lot of money i think it’s unfair to say that the Suns are holding Kevin Durant hostage when Kevin Durant at age 37 when the season starts is kind of holding the Suns hostage i don’t want to jump into the next segment but like we know of some deals that are out there right now more specifically the Minnesota Timberwolves who whether we like the deal or not like we don’t have to get into actual names but whatever the Timberwolves are getting if the Suns think it’s the best deal and Katie is out there leaking that he doesn’t want to go there and it is absolutely a team that just went to the finals last year kind of contending like listen man you don’t get to go to the San Antonio Spurs you know you want to go there but you kind of got to scratch our back too and we’ll scratch yours i I think it’s unfair to say the Suns are holding him hostage if they did keep him on the team because KD is kind of holding the Suns hostage a little bit by holding their feet to the fire and stopping them from getting the best deal i think that’s I think that’s fair he No it’s fair it’s fair but I think it’s just a matter of levels right he is making it harder for them to get the best deal agreed but they can still trade him any old freaking time that they want to they have the they have the ability to do that if they have to offer him a contract so in the world where they keep him they’re directly cutting off his money if they choose not to extend him in this case he’s not directly cutting off their ability to trade in the Minnesota he’s just making it a little harder maybe depleting the offer so that’s the difference one is like a direct f you i’m gonna we’re gonna prevent you from doing and getting what you want kd’s just kind of like making it a messy version you know he’s not preventing the Suns from doing anything if the Suns get an awful deal like let’s say that they end up trading him to the Timberwolves because it’s the best offer but the Wolves pull back on their offer because he won’t sign an extension i I would agree that I would say that this is Kevin Durant holding the Suns hostage because maybe they’re cutting off the money supply to him that we know the Timberwolves would get him but whatever right if the Suns don’t ace this Kevin Durant deal I would say it’s like a 80% chance they’re going to have to trade Deon Booker like that’s the only way you get out of this mess because you can’t put a capable team around him so if you’re if we’re cutting off the bloodline of money to him he’s cutting off the Sun’s ability to keep Deon Booker and I’d argue that’s even a bigger thing my point is they have ultimate control and he’s just doing the max that he can within the power limited less than they have that he has you know I I we’re I I totally agree with what you’re saying i’m just making the distinction that he doesn’t have the power to mess up the situation as much as they do and if they kept him that would be the ultimate messing up of the situation kept him and didn’t pay him you know um but he’s not going to he’s not faultless look he didn’t sign the extension last year which might have made this trade easier if he was under contract for longer he had parts of his performance uh that you could point to that contributed to the Suns not fitting and clicking like we would have liked i mean there’s a whole bunch of things it’s not one or the other but yeah he’s not going to be here next year i mean I think what what would you put it at 5% 2% no zero it’s He’s not going to be here there’s no way man it’s too messy i I guess you don’t go this far and back out fi 5% like I I’ll give a hailmary to somebody he’s here if it’s five probably that’s a situation even more so than Beal where he might just not play or he might just sit out because you can’t take the risk of getting hurt and if they already plan on trading him in February anyway and you’re just waiting for some team to get desperate enough to up their offer then he doesn’t even need to play it’s not like you need to see what Kevin Durant looks like so that might even be where it would go well you might right because he’ll be 37 and guys fall off a cliff all the time like Paul George we thought was great fell off a cliff immediately kd could do that and that’s the risk you don’t want to watch a guy to see that he didn’t fall off a cliff i mean that’s kind of a weird you what you last saw from him was really good you know what I mean so you’re not going to be like hold on can we check if he fell off a cliff could you go out there you know what I mean but let’s get to what the best deal is right now to close out the show we’ve talked about let yesterday what could hold up each trade but we haven’t spent as much time being like what’s the current offer and which one’s the best so we’ll do that coming up next first today’s show is brought to you by Lollipop a new kind of soda made for people who love the 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free fan can of Lollipop for yourself try it out for yourself buy any two cans in store and they’ll reimburse you for one buy one get one head to drinkpop.com/lockdown NBA to claim that free can and find where Lollipop is sold near you that’s drinkllipop.com/lockdon NBA all right Ben let’s close it out so I’m just going to give it to you you just give me your answer and we’ll start from there we’ve been following the reports out there we’ve been talking it out each day on the podcast we know kind of what the swing pieces of each trade might be what is the best offer that you’ve heard that is most likely on the table whether that’s from Gambo or local reporters elsewhere or national people or whatever what’s the offer you like the best that’s on the table right now for Kevin Durant that we’ve heard i would say the Heat but we haven’t heard Khal Wear is going to be in that deal today gambo sort of po said sort of didn’t say that Goar Dillingham and or Sharper Sharp Sharp Shannon Shannon Terrence Shannon uh and um Dante Devenzo and the number 17th overall pick are on the table right now for Kevin Durant i don’t know if that is contingent on an extension maybe that’s the deal if an if Katie is willing to sign an extension with them and if that’s the case that is by far the best deal but if Dantenzo Rudy Gobear Rob Dillingham and the 17th overall picker on the table Brendan you have to take that deal even if Kevin Durant doesn’t want to go there if that’s the deal not contingent on him signing an extension and just them wanting Kevin Durant that badly you have to make that deal and I’m so over this idea that Kevin Durant is going to go where only Kevin Durant wants to go i pointed this out last night and you were the one that told me like “Yeah dude that doesn’t happen as much anymore.” Damen Lillard didn’t go to his preferred trade destination jimmy Butler didn’t go his didn’t go to his preferred trade destination kevin Durant is awesome he’s a top 10 player of all time in my opinion he’s 37 years old the Spurs aren’t showing that they really want him that much to up their offer the Heat won’t put wear in the deal the Knicks said no if you could get that deal man that helps out the Suns in a few different instances one helps you stay competitive now Gobear is a fine player dante Devenzo can shoot the three ball and if you want picks 17th overall pick this year as well as Rob Dillingham who is a young player that I just consider in my opinion to be someone who is a draft pick in in in all respects like I consider him a draft pick because he was so hype drafted last year the Timberwolves traded up for him so I don’t think pick i I I don’t even think it’s close man i think that is the deal you do if you’re the Suns whether Kevin Durant wants it or not yeah it kind of bounces off of our last segment too and I just want to say it here because of the idea of trading him somewhere that he doesn’t want to be quote unquote like yeah part of why I think that that doesn’t happen as much is nobody has cap space anymore so you know Jimmy this summer right okay so don’t sign the extension with the with the Warriors become a free agent you’re going to go to Brooklyn yeah just be Brooklyn maybe Detroit can make some room for you you want to go to play with the Pistons no you know what I mean so that’s a big part of what looms over this is a lot for a long time teams could or players could could say “Well if you don’t trade me there I’ll just leave in the summer.” Well no you won’t and if you do you’re going to need our help because you’re going to need it to be a signing trade so we can’t burn the bridge you know so I think that’s part of why teams have gotten a little bit of the leverage back in that regard i don’t know if it’s Minnesota i agree until I know for sure KLA is on the table from Miami i just I can’t pick that one that one has it has to be where otherwise I’m not really interested in the Heats offer if I’m being honest i don’t hate the Minnesota one although to me it has to be Dillingham shannon is he’s like one of those really old rookies too he’s already 24 this past season he’s about to be 25 in his sec second season that worries me um decent player yeah like a guy who’s probably going to could be a role player for a long time but you know not equivalent to a first round pick to your point so that it has to be Dillingham for me to even want to say yes and I would try to get 31 from them because that’s basically another first and they have that pick this year i think that it I don’t know i have this weird feeling that the Spurs including Castle is not as crazy as it it sounds um I know that’s not on the table so I’m kind of breaking my own rules with the question but it feels like we might be like tomorrow this time when we’re recording it might be like the Spurs are willing to give up Castle like it almost feels like we’re right on the cusp of it but I don’t know because you’re kind of hearing the the media story be like “Was Castle really that good yeah he won rookie of the year but it was a bad draft can he not if he can’t shoot and Fox can’t shoot and Harper can’t shoot are they really going to keep all three guys and be trying to win games is that feasible or are they going to reset with Harper in that spot and maybe Castle becomes expendable like that’s kind of seeping into the conversation so that would interest me what’s What’s that deal i’m just curious do you still get the 14th overall pick in that deal do you still get Barnes like I I’m just curious what that frame I mean yeah Barnes has to be in it because of the money but I think that Yeah i mean it’s probably you know it’s Barnes barnes for sure maybe if it’s Castle they say “Oh we’re not doing Vel we’re only doing Kell Johnson.” Or maybe it’s Vel’s in there barnes is in there but you’re not getting 14 you’re only getting Castle i mean I don’t know there’s a million ways it could go but Castle would would maybe put that offer over the top and then Houston sounds like they’re willing to give up Jabari Smith like I gotta say if you can find a third team for Jaylen Green and you get Jabari Smith and 10 I’m getting that’s pretty close to something that I would take if I’m if it’s if it’s with Houston um I need to know what I need to know what’s going coming back from from the Jaylen Green trade um yeah i don’t I just don’t I don’t love the Minnesota trade because of what we talked about that Goar helps you be competitive now but he’s not a long-term solution in any way he’s already an older guy so he’s going to be off the books in a couple years he’s probably going to start breaking down soon and then you’re going to be right back to square one saying “The Suns need another star they need another center they how are they gonna compete around Booker like I just if it was somebody even a little younger than Go Bear I might go for it but I can’t I can’t get behind that we both didn’t say the Raptors we both didn’t even mention the Raptors yeah what What do you think of this one cuz people have been talking about RJ Barrett Purle and Nine that’s kind of like what we think it would be from Toronto and And I almost feel like I’m going crazy because a lot of people who I whose opinions I respect both Suns fans and and national people are like “That’s a good deal the sun should take it i’m like for what what what would be the upside of that type of like what what is what sell me on it like somebody tell me why am I why am I wrong here i’m not going to sell you on it what is Jole a top 15 center in the NBA maybe but maybe maybe he’s 29 he’s gonna this this upcoming season he’ll be 30 it’s kind of the same thing as Goar i um so you and I texted this morning and I’m assuming that’s why you did was like where would you rank the Quickly Purle ninth pick which remember everyone Gerald Borg put this out you can’t have Quickley and RJ Barrett the money does not work um I think it’s the worst deal now uh this morning I thought it was the second to worst deal uh because I didn’t know Dillingham could potentially be in that Timberwolves deal but to me it’s the it’s the worst deal now like what am I going to do with any three of those guys i’m just getting the nine pick and if I don’t hit on the nine pick what am I doing what am I doing you can say that with with a lot of these trades if if the pick fizzles and go I know what I’m getting yeah yeah the player part of it is weak that that’s that’s so like would it change your mind if Grady Dick was in it too no I don’t and I’m not gonna And here’s what I’ll say and I don’t watch Toronto Prospect i was just gonna say the same thing i was just going to say the thing i don’t watch a lot of Toronto Raptors basketball I couldn’t tell you but from what I you know casually looking from the Raptors from a afar no he doesn’t interest me i didn’t watch a ton of Minnesota basketballs here i watched more than the Raptors because they’re in the Western Conference but Dillingham didn’t play that much and there’s a strong reason for like why you could still think he’s still awesome i watched him in the small gym Dillingham at Summer League last year which is like a high school gym basically if people have ever been they know what I’m talking about it’s fun he’s small i think is like real person small not NBA player small he’s like if you walked up to him you’d be like “That guy’s pretty scrawny.” Even though he’s taller than you know like like uh Have you ever stood next to Tus Jones he’s small he’s short tus is pretty is pretty bulked i’m saying with Dillingham it’s like he’s just slim he’s also 19 he’s also 19 yeah no for sure for sure male is scrawny right like it it changes but when you’re six feet and you’re scrawny that’s a that’s a tough thing to overcome so it’d be nerve-wracking but I Let me give my answer i I would agree with you i think Quickly definitely interests me more than R.J barrett i I’ve been really frustrated by R.J i was covered the draft much more closely back when he was coming out and I I thought he was going to be awesome he’s not really lived up to it as an offensive player he He just can’t really score he can’t consistently score and and that’s just limiting so I agree but even with Quickly it’s it’s just not not competitive enough with the other offers and Dick’s defense worries me so I just don’t think I really get super excited about that one either so my answer is what is my answer probably the Heat or No sorry probably the Rockets i meant to say Houston the Rockets i know we don’t know what the Jaylen Green aspect of it is but the fact that we saw that thing from Michael Scott that we talked about yesterday where it said they’re already scouting the marketplace for flipping green if they can even get anything really back for Jaylen Green and Jabari Smith and 10 that’s probably the one I like the best you got a good pick a good young player and then some other stuff like that that’s that’s about what checks the boxes that I’ve been saying the whole time yeah mine’s the Timberwolves contingent on what the Suns could get back for Green because I do not want him here in Phoenix and contingent on like seriously Jabari Smith in the 10th pick just gets blown up if Jaylen Green is here i don’t It’s a terrible fit no I don’t I don’t see any world where they actually would keep you can’t you can’t do it and then um the Heat number one if wear gets added the Rockets number two if I get something tangible for Green and then the Minnesota Timberwolves but right now from the reports that we’ve seen it’s the Timberwolves because I haven’t seen where added in any deal which is again the heat in the Spurs I don’t know what how they’re doing business i think it’s crazy to not a Miami reporter that today which you know it wasn’t a substantive enough thing for us to really dig into but the idea that Spo is the one pushing for KD in Miami that’s an interesting wrinkle i would imagine that that makes it more likely to happen if the dude is in the building is the guy pushing for it bro they just they just got burned by Hakez like Haime Hz was awesome as rookie year last year fell off a cliff kind of like not the same player like do you want like what if that happens again with where like we’re taking on just as much of a risk here no one’s fleecing anyone and uh uh you know just really quickly I was on I was on a squad show today with with locked on NBA and we were kind of discussing that trade you did the mock trade with Wes Goldberg of of locked on heat and he kind of mentioned the same thing man of like it’s Kevin Durant i think everyone in Miami Heatland is really selling short how good this team could be with a primary scorer and in the East so just that’s my last point is I the way the Heat and the Spurs are doing business i I think it’s crazy to keep out Wear or Sohan for that matter but yeah just wild man obviously plenty more to come by the next time we record we’ll have you up to date on every single thing going down in the Kevin Durant marketplace keep it right here hit follow subscribe if you haven’t already become an everydayer and we’ll talk to you tomorrow

Kevin Durant was reportedly spurned by the Knicks early in the NBA offseason while the Spurs might be doing the same in talks with the Phoenix Suns now.

Brendon Kleen and Ben Garcia debate whether KD and the Suns overestimated the trade market before talking through the idea of keeping Durant this season. Then, a look at which offer is the best right now for KD.

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33 comments
  1. The Suns probably got the best offer that they are going to get with the Wolves offering Rudy Gobert and Donte DiVincenzo. Nobody in their right mind would give up the world for KD at this point in his career. As for the “underwhelming” offer they got from the Rockets well that’s more typical of the offers they are likely to get from his reportedly 3 preferred destinations. (Houston, San Antonio, and Miami.) As a Rockets fan I would love to have KD here. If somebody is willing to throw all caution to the wind for somebody who may only amount to a one-year rental then good for the Suns. But if the Suns think the Rockets are going to do something stupid like including Alperen Sengun or Amen Thompson in the deal they had better think again. Realistically speaking it’s highly unlikely that they will get a substantially better offer for KD than the one that the Wolves reportedly have on the table

  2. Man Ben stop trying to blame KD for the suns for going after Beal …if Beal wasn’t on this team yall could keep KD and book together so blame your on organization.

  3. 😂 suns will probably be stuck with KD they asking for to much they did this to themselves and if they rebuild rockets going to be looking nice

  4. blaming beal and kd as holding back phx is nasty work. both players were signed by the organisation knowing full well what the terms of engagement were. beals no trade existed before he was traded. phx went for a swing and missed and now you blame the player? thats just not cool. phx the organisation needs take some accountability and you guys should really treat your players better if you ever want it to be an appealing trade destination. which might not happen for quite some time after you send kd to a place he doesnt want to be.

  5. Am I the only one who saw Gambo report Toronto's current offer of RJ or IQ, Poeltl, and pick 9? Thats a good enough package for KD imo if the preferred teams dont match it

  6. If we extend KD for two years, I think it would make the contract more attractive to suitors. From KD's POV, if he wants two more years at $50MM each, then his best shot at it would be via trade, as everyone is capped out. If he refuses to sign an extension with PHX, and if we can't get good trade value and he walks, he might have trouble getting an expensive new contract next summer as a FA.

  7. KD 3 months away from 38yrs old when 2026 Finals start and is 2000 mins away from 50Kmins (RegSeas + Playoffs) or 20th all time around Shaq Hakeem!

    He was drafted in 2007 and has had a lot of injuries.

    You were never getting much for him or anyone his age + milage + injury history + last year of contract + player who has wanted out MANY times in his career.

    KD hasn’t been elite in playoffs since God tier 21 run.

    He’s still very talented, but for many reasons his value was always low AF for Suns.

  8. @@BenGarciaShow yes you are 100% correct, you & the suns definitely have no idea about how the heat and spurs make their business because those two organizations are world class when it comes to team building and making decisions. The Heat and the Spurs won multiple championships unlike the Suns who never gets over the hump and had more irrelevant seasons in the past. You just have no right to question how they handle their business because suns ain't proven anything yet in the NBA.

  9. Hypocrisy. When Nets were trading KD we didn’t guve a damn about who Suns gave- up and what Nets got for a return. So here we are. KD is at least guving Suns three team from reports . He gave Nets one team and here we are with thumb up are asses. Make a deal and move on. Same with Beal. Make a deal and move in a different direction. ASAP.

  10. If we keep KD my main issue with that is that he may get injured in first half of season and then you aint getting anything for him – depending on the injury ?

  11. Sun’s misread the market..if they weren’t playing hardball a dea would have been done already.. now there’s a possibility he stays unhappy for a season then walks in free agency for nothing or a minimal return ina sign and trade

  12. As a Spurs fan, our fandom is willing to trade for KD but only for Barnes, Vassell, and the No. 14 pick. Maybe add a protected first too, but definitely not including Sochan. Don't even think of adding #2 and Castles because those are our potential cornerstones of the future with Wemby. Adding KD will not guarantee us a contender, maybe Giannis, but not KD in his current form. The reason the Spurs want him is that he will put us in the playoffs, and our young team needs to experience it. We just don't want to overspend to get him.

  13. Teams want him however it’s the price, bc of the baggage, bc of the age, the years left and amount he makes. Teams don’t want to gut their roster and picks for that. The Spurs are in incredible shape, so giving up a lot for Durant just doesn’t seem like something they need to do

  14. Suns did not deserve KD at all I can’t wait til he traded the KD disrespect is lame you guys saying he 37 and he’s not worth much but he was the best player on the Suns lol I hope the Suns go into a rebuild..😊

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