{"id":114366,"date":"2025-06-21T12:49:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-21T12:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/114366\/"},"modified":"2025-06-21T12:49:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-21T12:49:12","slug":"former-nba-champion-proposes-kevin-durant-trade-to-the-indiana-pacers-he-would-give-up-a-lot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/114366\/","title":{"rendered":"Former NBA champion proposes Kevin Durant trade to the Indiana Pacers, he would give up a lot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Over the last few weeks, the Phoenix Suns have certainly learned it\u2019s harder than they thought to trade Kevin Durant.<\/p>\n<p>Despite being an elite player, the <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/phoenix-suns\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Phoenix Suns<\/a> seem to have forgotten that <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/kevin-durant\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Kevin Durant<\/a> is no longer in the prime of his career.<\/p>\n<p>In a few months, KD will turn 37 years old, which means that the Suns cannot keep their <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\">asking price for him too high<\/a>. Otherwise, Durant\u2019s preferred destinations, like the <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/houston-rockets-can-land-kevin-durant-without-improving-offer-one-team-has-done-it-before-brian-windhorst-explains\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Houston Rockets, do not need to improve their trade offers<\/a> for the NBA legend.<\/p>\n<p>Apart from the Rockets, the <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\">Miami Heat are also rumored to be a frontrunner<\/a> in the Durant sweepstakes. But what if a surprise team traded for the Slim Reaper instead?<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"941\" height=\"627\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1749956532_162_GettyImages-2207887704-941x627.jpg\" alt=\"Kevin Durant is expected to be traded away from the Phoenix Suns earlier than the draft day\" class=\"wp-image-164143\" \/>Photo by Chris Coduto\/Getty ImagesPaul Pierce suggests a shocking Kevin Durant to the Indiana Pacers trade<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/indiana-pacers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Indiana Pacers<\/a> have just leveled the 2025 <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/nba-finals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">NBA Finals<\/a> at 3-3 following a stunning win in Game 6 of the series.<\/p>\n<p>They are just one step away from winning their first-ever NBA Championship in franchise history with a core that doesn\u2019t have a clear superstar.<\/p>\n<p>Despite knowing this, <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> proposed the idea of the Pacers trading for Durant this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIndiana,\u201d Pierce suggested to his co-host <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/kevin-garnett\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Kevin Garnett<\/a> on the KG Certified podcast. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to figure [that out].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But considering Durant will make a humongous $54.7 million next season, do the Pacers even have the resources to pull this off? Well, Pierce had a trade package in mind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou throw in [Bennedict] Mathurin. You throw in Myles Turner because he\u2019s gonna be up for some money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Upon being asked if Pierce would include Andrew Nembhard in the deal, Pierce stated: \u201cYou got him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Is a Kevin Durant to Indiana Pacers trade possible?<\/p>\n<p>Sure, Pierce suggested an unexpected trade for the Pacers and Suns, but the most important question is whether it is even possible to acquire KD with the pieces he mentioned?<\/p>\n<p>Well, in theory, yes. However, to match Durant\u2019s massive salary, the Pacers will need to sign-and-trade <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/myles-turner\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Myles Turner<\/a>, who is set to feature among the <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/50-players-to-watch-in-nba-free-agency\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">top 50 free agents<\/a> this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>But more importantly, the Pacers may turn down this trade as they are already in the NBA Finals, and as mentioned earlier, it has been a team effort.<\/p>\n<p>Sure, <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/ranking-the-most-clutch-shots-in-nba-finals-history-after-tyrese-haliburtons-brilliant-game-winner\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Tyrese Haliburton has hit incredible game-winners<\/a> throughout the postseason, but the likes of <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/pascal-siakam\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Pascal Siakam<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/nbaanalysis.net\/tag\/obi-toppin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Obi Toppin<\/a>, and TJ McConnell have all played their roles to perfection.<\/p>\n<p>Adding Durant would not only gut the roster\u2019s depth, but it could also ruin the chemistry between the current members of the Pacers, who are on the cusp of lifting the illustrious Larry O\u2019Brien trophy.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over the last few weeks, the Phoenix Suns have certainly learned it\u2019s harder than they thought to trade&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3774],"tags":[7,1409,113,126,3866,938,6,114,2078,472,574],"class_list":{"0":"post-114366","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indiana-pacers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-eastern-conference","10":"tag-indiana","11":"tag-indiana-pacers","12":"tag-indianapacers","13":"tag-kevin-durant","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-pacers","16":"tag-paul-pierce","17":"tag-phoenix-suns","18":"tag-western-conference"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114721440639949330","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114366","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=114366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}