By Joel Perez 
The Kevin Durant sweepstakes are underway once again, and there seems to be a shortlist of
teams he’s heavily interested in joining—and possibly signing with long term. (KD’s 37, by the
way.) Just like every time a superstar wants a trade, the rumors swirl, but I’d like to reiterate: KD
is at the point in his career where I’m sure he wants to be on a relevant, contending team—one
where he doesn’t have to carry the squad through the entire regular season and into the
playoffs.
That hope, for him, was with DBook in Phoenix. At the time, that trade looked incredible. You
had two of the league’s top offensive playmakers on the same team, surrounded by a bunch of
pieces to fill in the gaps—and with some flexibility if changes were necessary.
And as we all know… the Phoenix Suns definitely thought they needed to add another star into
the mix to finally get over the hump. That’s when they traded every single possible asset they
had to the Washington Wizards for Bradley Beal, who was also on a very expensive long-term
max contract—oh, and by the way, had a no-trade clause to really spice things up.
So now, just a couple years removed from that Durant-to-Phoenix deal, we’ve got ourselves
another sweepstakes, with KD on the move once again when it’s all said and done.
The three preferred destinations for Durant, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, are the San
Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, and the Miami Heat—who are always hunting for the big fish.
And this feels like one that could go their way… or at least that’s the hope for Heat fans like
myself.
Let’s start with the Spurs. For San Antonio, the framework of a deal would likely be a
combination of Devin Vassell, Harrison Barnes, and either Keldon Johnson or maybe even
Jeremy Sochan, along with the 14th pick in this year’s draft. I’m not saying it’ll be all of that, of
course—but that’s likely the ballpark of what Phoenix would want from the Spurs. Their hope
would be to nail that 14th pick with someone interesting, like they did last year with Ryan Dunn
later in the first round. Dunn was effective in spurts and ended up on the court more than
Phoenix could’ve imagined. Pair that with the upside of Vassell or Sochan? Not bad.
KD alongside Wemby sounds terrifying. And with De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle as your
backcourt? That’s even scarier for opposing teams—and that’s not even including whoever the
Spurs grab with the second pick in this year’s draft.
Alright, enough about San Antonio. Let’s move on to the Houston Rockets, who are extremely
interested in KD and what he brings. What they need right now is a go-to scorer they can rely on
in half-court sets—something they lacked in the first round against the Warriors, and throughout
the regular season (unless Jalen Green was on fire). When his shot wasn’t falling, they
struggled like no other.
The trade package from Houston could vary since they can go in two different directions. One
option is trading Fred VanVleet along with a combination of young assets like Cam Whitmore
and Jabari Smith Jr. The other route could involve letting go of Jalen Green, plus another young
player like the two just mentioned—or maybe even Tari Eason or Reed Sheppard. Those last
two are less likely, but who knows where Houston’s head is at?
We’ll see if they’re truly serious about going after KD. They’re also one of the few teams with the
assets to make a run at Giannis, so do they go all-in on this core and bring in KD, or save their
chips for another move?
Now, last but not least, we’ve got the Miami Heat—my personal favorite to land KD. Not
because they have the best chance, but because I feel like both sides need each other. Miami
desperately needs a star to pair with Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo to make any sort of noise in
a wide-open Eastern Conference next year—and they also happen to have the kind of trade
pieces Phoenix might be looking for.
If the Suns are aiming to clear the books and reset a bit, Miami’s got them covered with expiring
contracts like Terry Rozier and Duncan Robinson—both making north of $20 million a year. Add
to that young assets like Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jović (who’s shown flashes of real potential),
and the one guy I hope Miami keeps out of this deal: Kel’el Ware. He showed out in his rookie
year, joined the starting lineup halfway through the season, and gave Miami something new to
build around.
As for KD—after the stops in Brooklyn and Phoenix—he could use some stability and a real
culture. As ironic as it sounds considering how often the Heat talk about “culture,” it’s real. It
matters. And it fits.
I love the idea of KD in Miami. I’m a fan of his—and obviously, I love the Heat. Maybe I’m
biased. But man, I’d love to see a KD No. 35 Heat jersey at some point.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see… but odds are, we won’t be waiting much longer to find out
where KD ends up.
Angel Rivera