Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant‘s potential return to the Golden State Warriors has gained traction over the last 48 hours in the aftermath of the blockbuster Luka Dončić–Anthony Davis trade, per multiple reports.
But ESPN’s Brian Windhorst noted that it’s as complicated as it gets and it could become a bigger deal than the aforementioned trade between the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers.
“Now we have the Warriors and Suns discussing the possibility of bringing Kevin Durant back,” Windhorst said on “Get Up” on ESPN on Wednesday, Feb. 5, “Okay, I am not going to sit here and even begin to project or guess as to how this may go down. Is it possible that Kevin Durant could be traded to the Warriors? Yes. Will it happen? I’m not afraid to say I don’t know.
“This is potentially a three, four or five-team transaction. It could involve, like, a dozen other players, because that’s the nature of the way NBA trades. It could involve Jimmy Butler, because it is possible guys that the Suns can acquire Jimmy Butler, but not for Bradley Beal, but for Kevin Durant, and so that after a month of trying to pair them together, they could end up, in an elaborate way, being traded for each other.”
Suns Desperate to Land Jimmy Butler
The Suns, according to Windhorst, have tried “almost every team” in the NBA to land Butler using the three first-rounders they acquired from Utah for their 2031 first-round pick to no avail.
After exhausting all the possible ways, the Suns have concluded that their only pathway to land Butler is to trade either Durant or Devin Booker since Bradley Beal does not want to waive his no-trade clause.
As they listen to Durant offers, the Suns are choosing Booker over him.
Windhorst warned about the fallout if such blockbuster trade does not go down by Thursday’s deadline.
“But I got to tell you, as you can hear, as I describe this, it sounds complicated,” Windhorst continued. “It is. So, I do not want to imply that anything is going to happen. And I have no idea how you go back on this if it doesn’t work because now the world does know.
“The Warriors are trying to get KD back and re-pair him with Steph Curry. The only thing I can tell you, that I can say for sure is that tomorrow afternoon, Devin Booker will be on the Suns because I think that’s the only guarantee and Steph Curry will be on the Warriors. After that, I can’t promise you anything.”
Warriors Desperate to Land a Star
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 with Green potentially getting moved in such a deal.
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