It’s the biggest news of the week and it will probably result in the most important deal this offseason. Kevin Durant has reportedly requested a trade out of the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday and the NBA world has been talking about itever since.
Though Durant still has four more years under contract, and therefore hasnoleverage in this situation, it seems that he already knows which teams he would like to join. The Phoenix Suns and the Miami Heat are understood to be his favorite landing spots.
At 33, KD still wants to chase championships,and these two teams could give him the perfect opportunity to do so. But the Nets couldn’t care less, as the only thing that will matter for them is to get something interesting in return. Therefore, Miami knows it could be a difficult target. But don’t worry, the Heat know what to do if he doesn’t arrive.
Rumor: Heat would go after Donovan Mitchell as an alternative to Kevin Durant
According to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune, if the Nets refuse to ship Durant to Miami,Pat Riley would set his sights on Donovan Mitchell. Despite the Jazz have recently traded Rudy Gobert to the Timberwolves, Utah could consider the idea of negotiating Spida.
“I’m hearing some pushback regarding the idea that the Jazz are definitely keeping Donovan Mitchell moving forward.Sense is that the Jazz are keeping their options open here: they could retool around Mitchell, or trade him for a massive haul to jumpstart a rebuild. In particular, watch Miami. Obviously, Kevin Durant is their No. 1 target, but if that doesn’t work out, they have been and will continue to be aggressive re: Mitchell.“
The feeling was that the Jazz would try and build around Mitchell rather than trade him, so this would certainly be a surprise. But in that case, their asking price would be through the roof. Mitchell still has many years left on his contract and it would require a massive return for Utah to part ways with him.