Kevin Durant appears primed for a move this offseason—the biggest question is where he'll end up.
Amid swirling rumors that the Phoenix Suns star is most closely linked to the Miami Heat and Minnesota Timberwolves, a new report from The Athletic states that Durant prefers teams on the other side of the country in the southwest region.
The Athletic's Sam Amick, Jon Krawczynski and Kelly Iko wrote Saturday night that Durant would like to play for the San Antonio Spurs or the Houston Rockets next season.
The only caveat? His preferences might not matter.
Here's an excerpt from The Athletic's latest report:
Yet in contrast to the February trade deadline, when a Durant deal to Golden State was nixed by the Warriors because he’d made it clear he didn’t want a reunion tour, his preference won’t likely be a deciding factor this time around.
League sources say Durant prefers to play for the San Antonio Spurs or the Houston Rockets, for example, but there are complicating factors with both of those negotiations that (for now, at least) make a deal look unlikely.
The report goes on to name the Timberwolves and the Heat as two other suitors who could be in the mix, and doesn't rule out the possibility of a wild-card team joining the Durant sweepstakes, either.
Shams Charania confirmed The Athletic's report on Saturday night and threw in the Heat as a third preferred destination for the 15-time All-Star, noting that they were the three teams he would “commit to long-term.”
"The Suns have made clear to six-to-eight seriously interested teams that they will make the best deal for the franchise—even outside of his preferred list of Miami, San Antonio and Houston," Charania wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Durant, who's entering the final year of his contract with the Suns, does not have a no-trade clause in his deal. One would imagine the 36-year-old still has some leverage in potential trade discussions, but it may not be much, as the insiders have made clear Phoenix could ignore his wishes entirely and do what's in their own best interest this summer.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Kevin Durant Reportedly Prefers Two Trade Destinations, But It Might Not Matter.
