Could the New York Knicks already have plans for their off-season target if they disappoint in the 2025 NBA playoffs?
This has been a good season for the Knicks, and it should be. After winning 50 games last season, the team went all in on chasing a championship by using much of their trade assets to acquire Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns. This group should win more than 50 games this season and finish with a top-five record in the league.
Yet there are concerns if this team is good enough to bring the franchise its first title since 1973. Their defense is shaky. They are banged up and racking up injuries. And they have had trouble against the elites of the league. The hope is they can turn it on this spring. And, at the very least, get back to the Eastern Conference Finals for just the second time in this century.
But, if they do underachieve this spring, a huge new rumor points to the player they will target to help take them to a championship level.
Kevin Durant could be on the New York Knicks’ summer trade wish list
During a “Pat McAfee Show” appearance on Wednesday, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania reported that changes in the Phoenix Suns organization this summer are guaranteed after a disastrous showing during 2024-25.
“From a roster perspective, that’s going to start with Kevin Durant and potentially finding him a new home. Unlike the trade deadline when he was almost traded to the Warriors, the Suns and Kevin Durant would work together on any trade. But I can tell you this: at the NBA trade deadline, there was a list of teams that there was mutual interest with Kevin Durant and those teams.”
Charania claimed the Knicks were among that list that included the Minnesota Timbervoles, Miami Heat, and the Houston Rockets. He expects they will all be in the mix when Durant hits the trade block this summer.
While New York does not have the draft assets they did before, a deal that included Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby, or potentially Karl-Anthony Towns, would certainly interest the Suns.
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