PHOENIX -- Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant is expected to have the Minnesota Timberwolves knocking at his doorstep this summer during trade talks, according to NBA insider Sam Amico.
Amico, in his latest report for Hoops Wire, offered the following:
"The Timberwolves need another alpha next to Edwards to win it all, which is why sources told Hoops Wire that Minnesota is expected to pursue a Durant trade again this offseason. Durant and Edwards are close. They were teammates on Team USA last summer. Edwards has said multiple times that Durant is his favorite player of all time," Amico said.
"... A future Hall of Famer, Durant doesn’t have a no-trade clause in his contract, but he’s interested in playing for the Timberwolves, sources said."
The Suns previously tried to deal Durant at the past NBA trade deadline with no luck, most notably including him in a deal that would have netted Phoenix the talents of Jimmy Butler.
Minnesota reportedly was one of the teams interested in Durant months ago, though no deal occured mostly to Durant wanting to control his own landing spot/end of his career, as he put it previously on The Draymond Green Show.
“I didn’t want to move and I get why you want to trade me, simple fact that’s business but for me looking at it," he said. "We can play the season out and if that's the decision you want to make in the off-season then we figure it out.”
Now, that time has come.
After crashing out of the Western Conference Finals, the Timberwolves are considered to be one piece away from putting themselves as top NBA title contenders.
The Suns - meanwhile - will look to re-shape their roster after eventually landing on a new head coach. They could net a handful of young players to help keep the team in win-now mode or retain future draft picks.
It's still believed that regardless of who is hired in Phoenix, Durant's future is elsewhere.
"Kevin Durant, I'm like 98% sure he's not gonna be a Sun next year, how it works out though I'm about 1% sure," ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst recently said.
"There's gonna be a number of teams interested, but some of it is gonna depend on whether they see Durant as a player they keep on a one-year contract or if they want to get him and give him an extension, which I suspect he's going to want."