Kevin Durant Trade Rumors: Suns star ‘effectively’ controlling market to force move to specific landing spot

Not too long ago, a Kevin Durant trade appeared to be imminent as his departure from the Phoenix Suns has been all but guaranteed. A new report, however, has emerged about the two-time NBA champion seizing control of the offseason chessboard.

Appearing on Friday’s episode of “NBA Today,” ESPN insider Brian Windhorst described the level of involvement that Durant has had in his own trade talks.

“His trade value is depressed because he’s limiting his market,” Windhorst said. “He is effectively doing that. He made it very clear he wants to have agency on where he finishes his career. He is, by doing that, depressing the market and forcing himself to a certain spot.” [Timestamp – 3:45]

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Though Windhorst didn't outright identify the "certain spot," Sam Amick and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic have reported that the San Antonio Spurs are Durant's most preferred team on his shortlist, which also includes the Houston Rockets and the Miami Heat.

As far as the Suns are concerned, however, Windhorst added that they would prefer to get the Durant deal done sooner rather than later. Specifically, the Phoenix organization is said to be looking at executing the trade by the NBA Draft on June 25 and 26.

"If you're going to trade for Kevin Durant, you're probably going to have to make other adjustments to your roster to fit next to Durant, and you want to have the entire transaction season to do so," Windhorst explained. "Secondly, if you are trading for a draft pick, you want to be able to execute that draft pick on the draft night itself." [Timestamp - 1:25]

From the looks of it, though, Durant is not tying himself to a draft day timetable when it comes to signing off on a trade out of Phoenix. Time will tell if Durant will indeed get his way and land with the team of his choice.

Report: Spurs have not been "aggressive" in Kevin Durant sweepstakes

Complicating the Durant scenario is the level of willingness on the part of the team that he is supposedly most interested in.

Appearing on Tuesday's episode of "The Pat McAfee Show," NBA insider Shams Charania reported that the Spurs have not exactly gone all out in their pursuit of the four-time scoring champion.

"The Spurs haven't been the aggressive team for Kevin Durant," Charania said. "I think they're really going to be stocking their assets for potentially a bigger move, bigger player, someone that may fit their timeline."

If Charania's report is accurate, the Spurs' approach to the Durant situation could open the doors for other teams to hit the offseason jackpot.

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About the author

Simoun Victor Redoblado

Simoun Victor Redoblado is an NBA and WNBA journalist at Sportskeeda with over 12 years of experience writing for publications such as Collider, ALL-STAR Magazine, and Sir Charles in Charge.

Simoun has a bachelor's degree in Secondary Education, Major in English and Minor in journalism. Thanks to the journalism courses that he took, Simoun understood the fundamentals of journalistic storytelling in the context of sports writing.

Passionate for the UP Fighting Maroons, Simoun is a fan of the NBA, PBA, UAAP, and FIBA.
His childhood team was the Chicago Bulls and Simoun was a longtime supporter of the Houston Rockets because his friends would say he looked like Yao Ming.

Simoun loves the systematic, tactical movement of the ball and the players, the stories behind each individual competing on the hardcourt and most of all, how basketball is a sport for life and all its struggles and lessons.

A father of two, Simoun spends his free time with his kids.

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