Kevin Durant
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Kevin Durant would end up in Cleveland under new trade proposal.
Kevin Durant is a certain NBA Hall of Famer and one of the greatest players of all time. After 17 seasons, six All-NBA first team selections, and an MVP trophy to go with his 2007-2008 Rookie of the Year award, Durant ranks eighth on the all-time scoring list with 41,237 points, plus 4,985 points in the playoffs, placing him seventh on that list.
His 27.22 points per game puts him seventh all time as well, and first among active players with at least 10 years of NBA time.
Durant has also been to the NBA Finals four times, winning twice and losing twice. Three of those Finals appearances, and both wins, came with the Golden State Warriors from 2017 to 2019. The other came with his original team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, in 2012. That was a loss in five games to the LeBron James-led Miami Heat.
Under a new trade proposal, however, Durant would be put in an excellent position to win one more championship before the 36-year-old draws his career to a close, by moving to his fifth different team.
The trade proposal would also have the effect of getting his current team, the Phoenix Suns, close to getting under the second-apron threshold. If they can get there, the Suns would not be subject to most severe personnel restrictions as they try to rebuild.
Massive Proposed Trade Gives Suns Chance to Rebuild
And rebuild they must. Despite 26.6 points per game from Durant on 52.7 percent shooting, the Suns finished out of the money, in 11th place in the Western Conference at 36-46, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
The website FanSpo includes a “Trade Machine and Cap Manager” feature which allows users to formulate their own trades, calculating if a specific trade is possible under the NBA’s restrictions, including the second apron rules.
On Saturday, one fan employed the “Trade Machine” to put together a blockbuster, four-team, eight-player deal headlined by the move of Duran from Phoenix to the team that won 64 games and took the top seed in the East in 2024, the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The other two teams in the trade would be the Minnesota Timberwolves and Brooklyn Nets, and the deal would also move Cleveland’s 2022 All-Star point guard Darius Garland.
Here is how the FanSpo trade proposal would shake out:
Timberwolves get:
Guard Darius Garland (from Cavaliers)
Nets get:
Point guard Mike Conley (from Timberwolves)
Power forward Dean Wade (from Cavaliers)
Forward Leonard Miller (from Timberwolves)
2025 First Round Draft Pick, No. 17 overall (from Timberwolves, via Detroit Pistons)
Suns get:
Forward De’Andre Hunter (from Cavaliers)
Center Jarrett Allen (from Cavaliers)
2025 Second Round Draft Pick, No. 36 overall (from Nets)
2029 Second Round Draft Pick (from Nets via Memphis Grizzlies)
Cavaliers get:
Forward Kevin Durant (from Suns)
Guard Donte DiVincenzo (from Timberwolves)
2025 First Round Pick, No. 26 overall (from Nets via New York Knicks)
2029 Second Round Pick (from Timberwolves)
Not Quite Below Second Apron For Phoenix
The trade would not get the Suns below the second apron, but it does get them close to the cutoff with only $1.2 million to go — an amount that should be achievable with a minor player move or two.
In all, it appears that despite losing Durant, it is Phoenix that benefits most from the proposed, major trade. They get a premier rim protector in Allen to pair with scorers Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, as well as a solid bench scorer in Hunter, who averaged 17 points per game in 27.2 minutes between the Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks in 2024-2025.
The Timberwolves may have to wait for Garland, who underwent surgery on his left big toe Monday and is may not be ready until November.