It’s no secret that the Phoenix Suns made a bold push during this year’s NBA trade deadline. While a potential deal sending Kevin Durant to the Golden State Warriors fell through, another team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, also showed interest in acquiring the star forward.
And that might not be the last we hear of their interest in the Suns’ star, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
“Another small market team to watch:Minnesota Timberwolves, which Ant Edwards and KD, (have a) very tight connection also from the Olympics,” Windhorst said on the Thursday edition of Get Up. “The Timberwolves tried to pull off a crazy trade at the deadline for KD. Look for them to revisit those talks this summer.”
The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski and Sam Amick reported that while Minnesota had interest in Durant, a deal never got close because the Suns and T-Wolves are both limited by being over the second apron.
Durant, too, had concerns about a midseason trade at all.
He recognized that any team acquiring him would not be as competitive after making the necessary trades to bring him in.
“My contract and just my production, me just getting up and moving in the middle of the season, it’s going to be a big blow to any team I’m going to,” Durant said on The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis. “It’s like, I get why y’all want to trade me and why y’all looking at it. It just doesn’t make sense for either side right now to go through it.
“We play the season out and if that’s the decision (the Suns) want to make in the offseason, then you figure it out. It’s just such a big change to make and I’ve been through it before and I’m like, that ain’t really it.”
.@WindhorstESPN says the Timberwolves may try to pair Kevin Durant and Anthony Edwards together this offseason 😯 pic.twitter.com/4YHvakFCil
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) March 6, 2025
Minnesota’s offseason plan could be about pairing Kevin Durant with Anthony Edwards
For Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, the offseason presents a new opportunity to pair Durant with Edwards.
Minnesota would be trying to pair a champion veteran with a young star in the league, similar to what the Lakers did pairing up Luka Doncic with LeBron James.
Durant and Edwards were teammates in the summer when the U.S. team struck gold in the Paris Olympics. The two have had their fair share of competition after the Timberwolves swept the Suns in the first round of the playoffs last season.
Edwards has called Durant his favorite player.
What could the Suns get in return for Durant?
Any trade for Durant will likely look different from the package Phoenix gave up in 2023, when they sent Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and multiple first-round picks and swaps to acquire him.
“A lot of it he’ll dictate as far as what you can get in value based on him (being) willing to extend with that team,” ESPN’s Bobby Marks told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta on Tuesday. “He can extend for I think two years, $120 million dollars.
“If there’s a team out there willing to throw … a lot at Phoenix and he’s not willing to extend, that’s probably not going to be a deal that will happen.”
Could Durant’s relationship with Edwards be enough to convince the two-time NBA champion to commit to a small-market team like Minnesota? Only time will tell.
This season, Durant is fifth in the league in points per game, averaging 26.9 points on 52.7% shooting from the field and 39.8% from beyond the arc.
He’s also contributing 6.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.3 blocks per game.