Kevin Durant Trade Rumors: Favorite Teams Revealed

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00:00We've just known KD would be on a new team for the longest time.

00:05We've been trying to figure out who that team is going to be.

00:07We've heard reporting from Sham Strani of ESPN.

00:10The list seemingly comprises mainly of five teams.

00:15Spurs, the Rockets, the Timberwolves, the Knicks, Miami Heat.

00:20That list is maybe shrinking as the days go on

00:25where the Knicks don't seem to feel super in the race.

00:30Minnesota seems to be gaining as the favorite,

00:32which at one point looked to be the San Antonio Spurs.

00:36There's a lot here.

00:37I'll go to you first, Tom.

00:39What do you make of the current Kevin Durant sweepstakes?

00:44I think it's a good way to put it.

00:45All right.

00:45So midseason when he declined the trade to the Warriors.

00:50Yeah.

00:50Right.

00:50My thought then, which I guess was maybe more like in the back of my mind,

00:55I'm like, okay, he declines that because the West is difficult.

00:59Right.

01:00It's just like he doesn't want to be because there's still years left on the contract.

01:02Right.

01:03It's not like he's an impending free agent.

01:05Right.

01:05So my thought was, you know what?

01:07Maybe like he doesn't want to go to the Warriors.

01:09Like the Thunder there.

01:11You know, the Timberwolves are always tough.

01:12Like Jokic is still there.

01:13It's like, yeah, maybe he just waits until after the season.

01:15Like, hey, if he can get to the East, it'll be a lot more open.

01:18And just from a winning perspective, the chance is there.

01:22Now, after the playoffs have, you know, are coming to an end, plus the Tatum news,

01:26obviously, which didn't happen back in February, the team injury, the East looks immensely open.

01:30So I'm looking at it.

01:32I'm like, hey, the East actually may be the spot to go.

01:35It was like kind of like a nugget in my brain.

01:36Like now it actually does really seem like, hey, if you want a shot to just get to the finals.

01:41I think the path forward in the East is far easier.

01:44Now, the Knicks may or may not be in there.

01:46They have enough of their own problems to worry about, coach.

01:47They need a coach.

01:49But from a money perspective, the Miami Heat makes some sense.

01:54I think that was just a fundamental from a contract perspective.

01:57I think they do.

01:57And then, you know, the Raptors are always a team in the mix for Giannis from a money perspective.

02:02I don't know if KD wants to go there, but they seem to have the puzzle piece to fit.

02:05So I would say the East is the route he should be going.

02:10And while it may fit fundamentally as Minnesota needs a score,

02:14they need a second score.

02:15I think it does fit.

02:16I don't know if like the West is the spot to stay.

02:19Well, I think one thing you have to realize, folks, is number one,

02:22Kevin Durant is going to be on an expiring contract next year.

02:25So the leverage and what Phoenix can ask in return goes marketably down.

02:32Two, why KD may not want to go to the Knicks,

02:36I honestly don't know if KD would want the pressure of going to the Knicks

02:39because it's just like the head coaching search.

02:42Because I think KD's controlling some of the narrative of where he wants to go.

02:46He already said the note to the Knicks years ago when he went to Brooklyn.

02:49I don't think Kevin Durant is a guy that wants, like I think he's,

02:55I don't want to say his ego will be bothered if he goes to New York and he fails,

02:59but it could.

03:00So I don't think that there's play.

03:02So if you're eliminating that, and then if you look at the contract of both Houston

03:09and San Antonio not giving up a ton, to me it probably makes sense that it's Minnesota

03:14because of, number one, the affinity that Ant Edwards has for him.

03:19Two, can you find contracts to move over to them?

03:23That makes more enticing to me than him going to a place like New York.

03:27Miami's intriguing, but we hear like Pat Riley's been trying to get a guy for like eight years

03:31and he hasn't got a guy.

03:32So maybe not Miami.

03:34So I, here's the, I don't, I can't tell you why the Knicks aren't the front runners.

03:43So maybe that I shouldn't then say it's definitely not about the pressure,

03:47but I can't imagine it's about the pressure.

03:49Because one, here's the thing with KD.

03:52He's a multi-time finals MVP.

03:54He's a league MVP.

03:55He's the first battle hall of famer.

03:56He's a multiple time Olympic gold medalist.

03:58I don't think the garden is going to bother him because I also think the garden would adore him.

04:03Because let's be realistic.

04:05Sorry, Jalen Brunson.

04:07Knicks fans have been dying for a player as good as Kevin Durant to put on a Knicks uniform.

04:15Go back to the decision.

04:19You want to know why?

04:20Ready a little behind.

04:21One of the reasons I'm such a LeBron guy is back when I was in high school,

04:27I was defending LeBron so much more because I went to high school in New York

04:33and no one hated LeBron more than Knicks fans because they were convinced he was going to the Knicks.

04:41They've wanted that guy forever.

04:45You thought it'd be mellow.

04:47Whoops.

04:47Stoudemire.

04:48Huh?

04:49And then you love Brunson.

04:50Everyone loves Brunson.

04:52They love Brunson so much.

04:56And again, respectfully, I think we can agree in terms of star power, status.

05:03JB is not KD.

05:04That's okay to say.

05:06When KD and Kyrie went to Brooklyn, it was a slap in the face to the Knicks.

05:12It just was.

05:12It's all there for him with Tom's incredibly accurate points about the East.

05:19Because if KD goes to the East, there will be an argument if Giannis went West.

05:26He's the best player in the conference.

05:28Not one I'd make, but I know some would.

05:30He's the best player in the world.

05:31He's the best player in the world.

05:32He's the best player in the world.

05:33He's the best player in the world.

05:34He's the best player in the world.

05:35He's the best player in the world.

05:36He's the best player in the world.

05:37He's the best player in the world.

05:38He's the best player in the world.

05:39He's the best player in the world.

05:40He's the best player in the world.

05:41He's the best player in the world.

05:42He's the best player in the world.

05:43He's the best player in the world.

05:44He's the best player in the world.

05:45He's the best player in the world.

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