The fate of 15-time All-Star Phoenix Suns power forward Kevin Durant has been a hot topic throughout the 2024-25 season.
Now, with the NBA Finals underway — and Durant's season long over, as his 36-46 Suns missed the playoffs entirely — talk of the two-time champion's next team has kicked into overdrive.
It has become glaringly clear that the 2014 MVP is frustrated with his tenure in Phoenix, having never advanced beyond the second round during his three seasons in town, under three different head coaches.
Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant dunks against Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George during a game at Wells Fargo Center. Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant dunks against Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George during a game at Wells Fargo Center. Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
The Suns leveraged practically all of their short-term draft assets to pair Durant with All-Star guards Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, seemingly unaware that the oft-injured Beal is now a shadow of his prime Washington Wizards self.
A former mentor to Durant, Hall of Fame San Antonio Spurs wing George Gervin, weighed in on what makes Durant's game so special — and revealed his special history with the two-time Finals MVP during an extensive new conversation with longtime NBA insider Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson.
“I used to be his mentor,” Gervin told Robinson. “The NBA had a mentoring program early on in his career when he was with Seattle and I went up there a few times and sat with him, ate dinner, talked to him, talked with him about basketball and also did it with him when he was down there in OKC, you know? So I had a personal relationship with KD."
Durant was selected with the No. 2 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft out of Texas by the then-Seattle SuperSonics. The team rebranded and became the Oklahoma City Thunder the subsequent season.
"People would always ask, Man, who reminds you of you? And I say, ‘He does in a sense because of the effectiveness in scoring.’ But I tell ‘em, ‘He doesn’t score like ME!’ [Kevin’s] tall and slender and I think that’s where people make the comparison but our abilities to score totally different," Gervin said. "The effectiveness is the same. We BOTH get it done.”
Gervin was a terrific scorer during an era where the game was far more inside-out and less perimeter-focused than it is now. The 6-foot-7 Eastern Michigan product was a 12-time All-Star, a seven-time All-NBA inclusion and a two-time All-ABA honoree. Across 1060 career regular season games, Gervin averaged 25.1 points, 5.3 boards and 2.6 dishes a night.
Sources have informed Sam Amico of Hoops Wire that Durant is hoping to be dealt to the Spurs.
Although San Antonio hasn't made the playoffs in six years, the club would serve as an intriguing fit for Durant. The 6-foot-11 sharpshooter would form a formidable frontcourt twosome alongside All-Star center Victor Wembanyama.
Whether San Antonio would retain Rookie of the Year guard Stephon Castle and/or All-Star point guard De'Aaron Fox in the deal remains to be seen. The Spurs' No. 2 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft would likely be on the table to a Phoenix club that's been starved of future pick equity.
Robinson, too, speculates that Durant's likeliest trade destinations are the Spurs, the Houston Rockets, and the Toronto Raptors — all three of whom boast top 10 picks in this season's stocked draft.
Durant hasn't lost much offensively, although he has declined on the other end of the floor and isn't quite the same athletic force. Still, he remains a lethal scoring threat all over the hardwood.
Last season, the future first ballot Hall of Famer averaged 26.6 points on .527/.430/.839 shooting splits, 6.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists across 62 healthy contests.