Suns Nearly Made Franchise-Changing Kevin Durant Trade to Timberwolves – Sports Illustrated

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PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns' future was nearly entirely different.
The Suns traded Kevin Durant last summer to the Houston Rockets after attempting to move off Durant at the trade deadline – where the organization had a deal in place with the Golden State Warriors before Durant shut that down.
Phoenix ultimately kept Durant for the remainder of the regular season before shipping him to Houston, though a recent report says the Suns engaged in trade talks with the Minnesota Timberwolves for Durant.
From The Athletic:
"Two years ago, Connelly was feverishly trying to line up a series of moves to make it possible for the Wolves to land Kevin Durant from Phoenix. Team and league sources told The Athletic that there was a point in the hours before the trade deadline in 2025 that the Wolves believed they were in position to execute, but the Suns ultimately decided not to pull the trigger."
Durant would have teamed up with Anthony Edwards, one of the league's best players and a very loud/established Durant fan.
Phoenix ultimately landed a trade package of the No. 10 pick (used on Khaman Maluach), Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks for Durant.
Arizona Sports' John Gambadoro says a trade package of Rudy Gobert, Donte DiVencenzo, one of Terrence Shannon or Rob Dillingham and the No. 17 overall pick was Minnesota's offer to Phoenix for Durant.
Had that trade with Minnesota gone through, perhaps Phoenix's future looks entirely different. Brooks has been a massive part of the Suns' quick turnaround in terms of culture while Green has flashed a strong scoring presence next to Booker and Maluach has potential to be an elite rim protector at the NBA level.
That future, obviously, would not be the same if Durant went to Minnesota.
"I’m really not focused on what happened last year anymore, because we turned that page," Suns owner Mat Ishbia said this past February when reflecting on the Durant move. The player himself has been pretty vocal in his displeasure with how the Suns treated him towards the end of his time in Phoenix.
"I know how it went. I know every detail of how it went, and now I know what we’re gonna do going forward. So, how Kevin feels about that, that’s his own problem, and his own thoughts.”
Whether Phoenix chose the right path can only be told with time, but clearly the Suns made out just fine from their swap with Houston.
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Donnie Druin is the Publisher for Arizona Cardinals and Phoenix Suns On SI. Donnie moved to Arizona in 2012 and has been with the company since 2018. In college he won "Best Sports Column" in the state of Arizona for his section and has previously provided coverage for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona State Sun Devils. Follow Donnie on Twitter @DonnieDruin for more news, updates, analysis and more!
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