NBA rumors: Unexpected insider says Kevin Durant wants to be in Miami

The Phoenix Suns' season ended with a first-round sweep. With so little financial flexibility, the front office will have trouble meaningfully improving the roster. Phoenix is damned to running out five well-paid starters and a bunch of minimum contract vets. That formula has not been particularly successful in recent years. Stars win championships, but depth is essential.

On Thursday, the Suns dismissed Frank Vogel as head coach. Mike Budenholzer is the next man up by all indications — another notoriously stubborn, if brilliant defensive mastermind with recent postseason success. Bud is great, but frankly, he's not some drastic paradigm shift compared to Vogel. Phoenix is a wonky personnel fit for Bud, and it's unclear how thoroughly the Suns' front office is thinking this move through.

Phoenix is a good basketball team, to be clear. Budenholzer can squeeze average defense out of a mismatched roster, as Vogel did. The Suns won 49 regular season games and there's always an outside chance to go deep when your team has Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.

That said, the futility of Phoenix's situation is starting to set in. If the Suns' front office doesn't realize it, everybody else does — their players included. We have already heard rumblings of Devin Booker wanting out. KD, meanwhile, is perpetually involved in such speculation. Now was have a rather unambiguous claim of Durant eyeing another team. The source, however, is a real doozy.

Chad Johnson — the former NFL wideout who played with 'Ochocinco' across his back — went on the 'Nightcap' podcast with Shannon Sharpe and divulged a personal conversation he allegedly had with Durant.

"[I think he wants to go to Miami] because I talked to him. I talked to KD and I know KD is going to see this and KD can attest to this. You can talk about it tomorrow on First Take. KD and I had a lengthy conversation. Listen, I'm not into basketball and people like KD and LeBron and some of these other players that I know, they confide in me. And I asked if it was OK to talk about tonight on Nightcap and it just so happens, boom, it comes up. And he said he would have no problem coming down to Miami, if it made sense."

Wowza.

There will be natural skepticism about the source here — there should be — but Johnson is broadcasting this loudly and inviting Durant to back him up. He even claims permission to speak about it. So... maybe there's fire to this smoke?

Chad Johnson claims Kevin Durant is 'open' to joining Heat

The Miami Heat attempted to lure Durant to Miami once upon a time, but he opted for Golden State. Now, the allure could be stronger than ever. Erik Spoelstra has developed a reputation for optimizing his players and establishing a winning culture. We have seen multiple past-prime vets find their second wind in Miami. Durant could look at the success of Jimmy Butler in South Beach and become envious.

Miami's roster situation isn't particularly great — Butler's future is very much in doubt as he becomes extension-eligible — but Jimmy, Bam Adebayo, and a few role players could be enough to convince KD. Especially with Spo there, in a much weaker Eastern Conference. With all due respect, the New York Knicks are about to go to the conference finals and Cleveland — Cleveland — just walloped the Boston Celtics on their home floor.

Now, Durant has limited leverage in this situation. He's signed through the 2025-26 season and Phoenix does not control its own draft picks, so tanking would be a fruitless endeavor. It would take a drastic shift in perspective from the Suns front office to even give Miami a shot.

Stranger things have happened, though, and the KD-Miami buzz is absolutely heating up. It's important to follow the breadcrumbs in the NBA offseason.