The Phoenix Suns continue to work on Kevin Durant trade scenarios, but the widespread belief is that they have been underwhelmed with the offers and are doing everything they can to “drum up” better offers. The expectation has been that a trade would be finalized before the draft on June 25 in order to allow any picks that would be included in the deal to be used by the team that will ultimately receive them, but Brian Windhorst believes talks could drag on beyond it.
“I think that is a mark, but I don’t think it has to get done by then,” said Windhorst about the draft as a deadline. “If the Suns can’t get a deal that they like, I don’t think they will make the draft a deadline.”
Durant has the San Antonio Spurs, Miami Heat and Houston Rockets on his list of teams he is comfortable committing to beyond the upcoming season. The Suns are trying to get Durant to add more teams, such as the Minnesota Timberwolves, in order to force teams to increase their offers.
“They’re not doing this just because they want to be nice to Kevin Durant,” said Windhorst. “They want Kevin Durant on board so they can get a better return. That’s also part of this.”