The Minnesota Timberwolves remained unchanged through the NBA trade deadline. They had no real avenues for upgrading their roster unless they traded Julius Randle, which wouldn’t have been easy in the middle of the season. Despite that, the Timberwolves allegedly tried their best to make a blockbuster trade happen for a former MVP.
Chris Haynes reported that the Timberwolves made an aggressive push to acquire Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant towards the last few hours of the deadline, but it didn’t work.
“Sources: A team that made a last-ditch effort near the deadline to engage the Phoenix Suns on trading for Kevin Durant to no avail: the Minnesota Timberwolves.”
Many teams called the Suns within the last two days, trying to acquire Durant. It’s already been confirmed that the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat were trying hard to land Durant as part of a larger Jimmy Butler trade. However, Durant refused to be moved, leading to the teams’ backing off.
It seems over the final day, teams like the Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks, and Timberwolves aggressively pushed to try and land Durant as a hail mary. But the Suns’ had decided to stand pat without making any trades, so he’s still wearing a Suns jersey for the rest of this season.
Durant is averaging 26.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 4.2 assists this season. He’s been playing phenomenal basketball, but the overall roster issues the Suns have dealt with keep affecting their on-court success. Now that they’ve traded players like Jusuf Nurkic away and have role clarity with disgruntled star Bradley Beal, the team will be hoping for a late-season push.
A pairing between Edwards and Durant would’ve been fascinating to see on the court. From what we have seen, the pair have a strong relationship which was further reinforced during the 2024 Olympics. That friendship doesn’t mean Durant will give up the situation he’s in with the Suns for a shot at a title on another incomplete roster like the Wolves.
Minnesota didn’t even have picks to send Phoenix for Durant, so I’m curious about what kind of deal were they trying to offer. It likely included Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and potentially rookie guard Rob Dillingham to try and create some future value for the Suns. Unfortunately for Minny, the Suns were simply not interested in dealing with Durant this winter.
If he’s available in the summer again, it seems NBA teams will be lining up for Durant. Even with his frequent moves over the last 10 years and his last championship win coming in 2018 with the superteam Warriors, NBA teams around the NBA understand how valuable having a player like Durant on a contender can be.
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