Kevin Durant has requested a trade and the superstar has at least one team in mind where he would like the Nets to deal him.
With NBA free agency set to begin, Kevin Durant must have figured that there was not better time to drop a bomb on the basketball world as he requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday.
Durant submitted his request and, according to reports, Brooklyn GM Sean Marks and Durant’s agent, along with the player, will work to try and find a deal that’s suitable.
If the superstar has his way, however, he already knows where he wants to end up. Right after the reports of the trade request, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported that the Phoenix Suns had already emerged as the preferred landing spot for Durant.
Kevin Durant has the Phoenix Suns listed as a preferred trade destination, league sources tell @YahooSports.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 30, 2022
Kevin Durant trade rumors: Suns are preferred landing spot, Heat also in the mix
The Suns, however, aren’t alone in that. According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, the Miami Heat were also among the preferred landing spots for Durant in a possible trade.
On Monday, as the league prepared for Kevin Durant to potentially request a trade during the Kyrie opt-in saga, Phoenix and Miami were often mentioned as the All-Star's perceived favorite landing spots.
— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) June 30, 2022
It’s still early in the process after the request, so we’re sure to get more information about the suitable trade destinations for Durant in the coming days, particularly with free agency getting under way in typical frenetic fashion.
With that being said, the Suns and Heat would both make sense. Both teams have proven capable of making playoff runs in their current iterations and Phoenix made it to the NBA Finals in 2021 but fell short of the Larry O’Brien Trophy. The addition of Durant for either team, though, could be enough to put them over the top.