The Minnesota Timberwolves are believed to be very close to a potential Kevin Durant trade with the Phoenix Suns, but they face a question of whether they should move forward with it considering he has expressed a strong preference to be dealt to one of the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets or Miami Heat. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Durant has “no desire, no interest in playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves.”
“We’re in the very thick of it with this Kevin Durant thing,” said Brian Windhorst on the Hoop Collective Podcast. “And so I don’t know what’s going to happen by the time this comes out, but while we’re talking about this on Tuesday afternoon, the Minnesota Timberwolves have a very interesting situation sitting in their laps.
“I’m not saying anything definitive—to be clear, I’m not reporting this—but my feel is that if the Timberwolves wanted it, they could probably get a trade for Durant done. The question is—and Durant has made it very clear that he does not have the Wolves on his list. It has practically been posted on social media. It’s been posted on social media by Shams, essentially, but it might as well have been posted on social media by Durant.
“If you’re Minnesota, do you trade for a player who doesn’t want to be there? Who very clearly doesn’t want to be there?”
When the Wolves discussed a deal with the Suns at the trade deadline, they operated under the assumption that Durant had interest in joining their team. Durant has a close relationship with Anthony Edwards and joining the Wolves would allow him to join a team that has reached the Western Conference each of the past two seasons.
Durant is on an $54.7 million expiring contract for the 2025-26 season. Durant will be eligible to sign a two-year contract extension on July 6 worth as much as $112 million, or he could sign a two-year extension worth up to $124 million if he waits six months.
Minnesota’s trade offer likely would be centered upon some combination of Rudy Gobert or Julius Randle along with Donte DiVincenzo.
