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As the Golden State Warriors search for a pivot this offseason to maximize the remaining championship window of Stephen Curry, one name constantly comes up.
Zach Lowe of ESPN floated a trade idea that will bring Durant back to the Bay area where he enjoyed the most successful stretch of his NBA career and also the Warriors.
“KD reunited with the Warriors,” Lowe said on his podcast “The Lowe Post” on April 29. “All the young guys, salary fillers. It’s gonna be [Jonathan] Kuminga and all the other [young] guys you don’t want to trade. It’s Kevin Durant so you’ll probably trade those guys.”
ESPN’s front office insider Bobby Marks also added Andrew Wiggins into the framework of the hypothetical Golden State-Phoenix Suns trade that could revive the Warriors dynasty into the final years of Durant and Curry’s prime.
“It should be Wiggins as your place holder,” Marks said. “That’s your big number, right? Then it’s gonna be a combination of Kuminga, [Brandin] Podziemski and [Moses] Moody and whatever you have.”
Wiggins still have three years remaining on his $109 million, four-year deal. In terms of draft equity, the Warriors have two tradable first-round picks (2025 and 2027 or 2026 and 2028) and pick swaps in between those picks. They also have two second-round picks available.
Unfinished Business
While Warriors owner Joe Lacob indicated that their plan 1A is to get out of the luxury tax, their trade deadline inquiry on Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James suggests they are willing to take a big swing as well.
“You know me, and our fans I hope you know me and us, not just me, we have a culture that is very aggressive,” Lacob told The Athletic on Feb. 15. “We’re always going to try to be aggressive, we’re going to try to put the best team on the court, and if it costs a lot of money, it’s going to cost a lot of money.
We’re willing to invest, everyone knows that. We do those things hopefully at the right time, not the wrong time. And we’re going to look at everything. When we acquired Kevin Durant many years ago, that was an incredibly aggressive move that we made. Where I think half our roster went away to accomplish that. Even though we had a really good team, we felt we could be better, and we did. We went to three finals — should’ve won all three, we did win two.”
There is unfinished business with Durant and the Warriors.
Kevin Durant Unhappy in Phoenix
In the aftermath of the Phoenix’s embarrassing first-round flameout, Shams Charania and Doug Haller of The Athletic reported that Durant was unhappy with his role on Suns’ offense.
“Durant, among the best scorers in NBA history, was not always happy with how he was used,” Charania and Haller wrote. “Sources briefed on the matter told The Athletic that Durant never felt comfortable with his role in Phoenix’s offense alongside [Devin] Booker and [Bradley] Beal this season.
Those sources said Durant had persistent issues with the offense, feeling that he was being relegated to the corner far too often and not having the proper designs to play to his strengths as the offense was built around pick-and-rolls. At the same time, some teammates and people close to the organization believed Durant needed to voice his concerns more adamantly and directly with Vogel and his coaching staff.”
The Warriors could pounce on those cracks in the Durant-Suns relationship to lure him back.
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