The Miami Heat are one of the two teams that are legitimately pursuing Phoenix Suns‘ 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant, NBA insider Jake Fischer reported on Saturday, June 14.
“Things are obviously fluid at this stage, but the two teams most frequently cited as potential landing spots for Durant entering Saturday’s business, league sources say, were Minnesota and Miami,” Fischer wrote on “The Stein Line” Substack newsletter.
Four more teams are interested in Durant, but not on the same level as the Heat and Timberwolves, who have the biggest chance to land the 36-year-old superstar.
“San Antonio and Houston — and to a lesser extent both the LA Clippers and Toronto — have also been frequently mentioned by executives throughout the league as teams with varying degrees of interest in trading for Durant. It is widely presumed, furthermore, that landing with the Spurs or Rockets in Texas is highly appealing to the player himself,” Fischer wrote.
Durant is owed $54.7 million next season and is on the final year of his current four-year, $190 million contract. He’s looking for a team that is willing to give him a two-year, $112 million extension similar to what former Heat star Jimmy Butler received from the Golden State Warriors at the trade deadline. On top of that, Durant wants to go to a contending team, not a rebuilding team at this stage of his career.
Heat Willing to Sign Kevin Durant to Lucrative Extension
Getty Miami Heat president Pat Riley is open to trading for an aging star. Can they land Kevin Durant?
Heat president Pat Riley hinted at his end-of-season press conference that he’s open to trading and paying for an aging star like Durant.
“For us, yes, if that player is the right name and the contract is the right length, I still think that an aging player can play,” Riley said at the time. Look at LeBron [James].”
By now, Riley must have learned his lesson from the bitter Butler exit after he did not extend the 35-year-old star last summer.
While Durant is older, he’s a more accomplished and legitimate championship-caliber star than Butler.
Durant has been the Finals MVP during his two championship runs with the Warriors. Turning 37 this September, Durant is aging gracefully. In what could be his final year in Phoenix, Durant averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 62 games while shooting a highly efficient 52.7% from the field, including 43% from the 3-point line.
The Heat have the upper hand over the Timberwolves in terms of draft capital. They have three tradable first-round picks (2030, 2032 and this year’s 20th first-round pick via Warriors from the Butler trade) while the Timberwolves only have this year’s 17th pick as their lone draft asset.
Sun’s Hefty Asking Price
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported that the Suns have put a hefty price tag on Durant.
“From what I am told, the Suns are looking for a comparable package for what they traded Kevin Durant, which is impact players and multiple draft assets,” Windhorst said on “NBA Today” on June 11. “I’m not sure they are going to be able to generate that because Durant is a couple of years older and his contract is short.”
The Suns gave up four first-round picks and a pick swap on top of Cam Johnson and Mikal Bridges for Durant at the trade deadline in 2023. Three of those picks are now with the Rockets, who are in a great position to trade for Durant should they want to. But with their reluctance to accelerate their timeline with an aging star, the door is very wide open for the Heat.
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