As the Golden State Warriors look for a change this offseason to make the most of the remaining time they can win championships with Stephen Curry, and one name keeps coming up.
Kevin Durant.
Zach Lowe of ESPN proposed a trade idea to bring Durant back to the Bay area, where he had the best period of his NBA career, and also with the Warriors.
“KD returning to 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 suggested including Andrew Wiggins in the hypothetical trade between Golden State and thePhoenix Suns that could bring the Warriors back to dominance during 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 has three years left 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
Even though Warriors owner Joe Lacob indicated that their priority is to reduce luxury tax expenses, their interest in Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James at the trade deadline shows they are open to taking big opportunities.
“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
Following Phoenix’s disappointing first-round exit, Shams Charania and Doug Haller of The Athletic mentioned 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 kept in the corner too much and not given the right plays to match his strengths as the offense was focused on pick-and-rolls. At the same time, some teammates and people close to the organization believed Durant needed to express his concerns more strongly and directly with Vogel and his coaching staff.”
The Warriors might take advantage of the issues in the Durant-Suns relationship to attract him back.
