The Golden State Warriors trade inquiry about Kevin Durant has been met with an exorbitant asking price from the Phoenix Suns, which included Draymond Green, The Athletic reported on Tuesday, Feb. 4.
But there might be an alternative pathway for the Warriors to land Durant and reunite him with Stephen Curry by leveraging the Suns and Jimmy Butler‘s strong mutual interest.
“The Warriors also have a potential path to help guide Butler to Phoenix, if they pull the trigger on an Andrew Wiggins-centric trade with Miami that has been discussed,” The Athletic report said.
It has to be a perfect storm for the Warriors to have another go-round with Durant, who was the NBA Finals MVP of their back-to-back title runs in 2017 and 2018.
Could Perfect Storm Lead Kevin Durant Back to the Bay?
That perfect storm has been brewing ever since Butler asked out of Miami.
The Suns have no pathway to land Butler unless they trade either Durant or Devin Booker since Bradley Beal has been unwilling to waive his no-trade clause and prefers to stay in Miami.
On the other hand, the Heat have no interest in Beal even if he waives his no-trade clause.
The Miami Herald reported that the Heat are “determined not to take back sizable contracts that run past next season” unless they are “compensated with a draft pick or two.” But they also want players “who can help them make the playoffs this season.”
Wiggins, who has regained the form that made him an All-Star during the Warriors’ 2022 title run, can certainly help the Heat in their playoff chase in the wide-open Eastern Conference.
The 29-year-old Wiggins could replace Butler’s role in Miami as their two-way wing. He currently averages 17.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Wiggins is also a better 3-point shooter than Butler, hitting 37.9% on a high-volume 5.8 attempts.
Warriors’ Front Office Growing ‘Impatient’
The Warriors have aggressively pursued big-name stars since last year’s NBA trade deadline from LeBron James to Paul George and Lauri Markkanen last summer. But in those nixed deals, especially in the George and Markkanen pursuits, they were unwilling to go all-in.
But The Athletic report painted the Warriors front office as becoming “increasingly impatient” especially in the wake of their Western Conference rivals Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks executing a stunning swap of their stars Luka Dončić and Anthony Davis.
Jake Fischer also said the same along those lines in “The Stein Line” Substack newsletter on Monday, Feb. 3.
Green all but confirmed this after the Warriors beat the Orlando Magic on Tuesday.
“We all know (Joe Lacob’s) pissed sitting at .500. You’d be a fool to sit back and think everything (is OK). Not with that guy,” Green told reporters. “You gotta expect they’ll be aggressive. Luka Dončić just got traded. So everyone thinks everything possible.”
And that led them back to Durant, who is now increasingly likely to get traded by this Feb. 6 deadline, according to Marc Stein and Fischer.
“There was a rising belief around the league Tuesday, as Thursday’s 3 PM ET trade deadline closes in, that the Suns could legitimately trade Durant after insisting for so long that they wouldn’t.
And while Durant undeniably sustained an ankle injury late Monday night in overtime during Phoenix’s unexpected loss at Portland, such suspicions certainly weren’t diminished by the news that the Suns had downgraded Durant to doubtful for Wednesday’s game at Oklahoma City with a left ankle sprain,” Stein and Fischer reported on Tuesday, Feb. 4.
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