{"id":112608,"date":"2025-06-20T18:07:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T18:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/112608\/"},"modified":"2025-06-20T18:07:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T18:07:12","slug":"paul-pierce-claims-milwaukee-bucks-are-one-of-three-teams-kevin-durant-should-have-at-the-top-of-his-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/112608\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Pierce claims Milwaukee Bucks are one of three teams Kevin Durant should have at the top of his list"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Kevin Durant\u2019s future with the Phoenix Suns has been one of the most discussed topics ahead of the NBA offseason.<\/p>\n<p>Following an abysmal 2024-25 season for the <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/phoenix-suns\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Phoenix Suns<\/a>, it\u2019s all but confirmed that <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/kevin-durant\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Kevin Durant<\/a> will leave the franchise.<\/p>\n<p>However, the Suns are no closer to parting ways with the Slim Reaper than they were when the rumors first leaked during the NBA Trade Deadline.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a mix of the <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/phoenix-suns-ambitious-demand-to-san-antonio-spurs-for-kevin-durant-revealed-it-was-too-high\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Suns\u2019 asking price being too high<\/a> and KD being picky about his next destination. Keeping that in mind, <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/boston-celtics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Boston Celtics<\/a> legend <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/paul-pierce\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Paul Pierce<\/a> recently shared his honest thoughts on the Durant trade saga.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"941\" height=\"627\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2209641096-941x627.jpg\" alt=\"Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns looks to his side during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers.\" class=\"wp-image-166774\" \/>Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty ImagesKevin Durant can only be traded to a team where he\u2019s a second option, says Paul Pierce<\/p>\n<p>Despite being on the cusp of turning 37 years old, Durant hasn\u2019t allowed age to impact his production on the court.<\/p>\n<p>After all, he averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game for the Suns this season. Unfortunately, Durant\u2019s numbers didn\u2019t translate to wins for the organization as they finished the season with a terrible 36-46 record.<\/p>\n<p>It feels like Durant can no longer be the first option on a championship contender, and that\u2019s what Pierce said during a recent episode of the KG Certified podcast.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think KD needs to play on the team with a player that\u2019s better than him, for them to win a championship. For him to win another title,\u201d Pierce boldly stated.<\/p>\n<p>Since <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/why-kevin-durant-left-the-golden-state-warriors-in-2018-for-the-brooklyn-nets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">leaving the Golden State Warriors<\/a>, KD has tried his luck with the <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/brooklyn-nets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Brooklyn Nets<\/a> and Suns as the No. 1 option on the team and failed to win a championship. So maybe it\u2019s time for him to take a back seat?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Paul Pierce names the only three teams that can trade for Kevin Durant<\/p>\n<p>Adding further to his theory about Durant needing to play with a star better than himself, Pierce believes the Suns star should be eyeing three teams.<\/p>\n<p>The teams are: <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/milwaukee-bucks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Milwaukee Bucks<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/oklahoma-city-thunder\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">OKC Thunder<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/denver-nuggets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Denver Nuggets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s only like two or three teams. Milwaukee, with Giannis [Antetokounmpo], OKC with Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander]\u2026 or Denver. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, if they can find a way to him, you pair him up with [Nikola Jokic] over there,\u201d Pierce added.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no doubt that <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/giannis-antetokounmpo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/shai-gilgeous-alexander\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/nikola-jokic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Nikola Jokic<\/a> are all better than Durant at this stage of his career.<\/p>\n<p>A move to either of these teams will likely help KD win the third ring of his NBA career. But at the end of the day, the Suns hold his future, and they could trade him to a team like the <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/miami-heat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Miami Heat<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Especially considering <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/miami-heat-moving-closer-to-kevin-durant-trade-but-must-give-up-exciting-young-prospect-to-do-the-deal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">rumors about Durant to the Heat<\/a> are catching attention in the NBA rumor mill.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kevin Durant\u2019s future with the Phoenix Suns has been one of the most discussed topics ahead of the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3775],"tags":[7,103,938,102,121,3871,6,2078,472,574],"class_list":{"0":"post-112608","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-milwaukee-bucks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bucks","10":"tag-kevin-durant","11":"tag-milwaukee","12":"tag-milwaukee-bucks","13":"tag-milwaukeebucks","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-paul-pierce","16":"tag-phoenix-suns","17":"tag-western-conference"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114717028837406925","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}