Kevin Durant said in February that he was “blindsided” when he learned that the Suns were discussing potential trades involving him without his knowledge, and sources tell ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst that there was some disagreement within the organization about how those talks were handled.
According to ESPN’s duo, that situation is one reason why Suns owner Mat Ishbia and new general manager Brian Gregory have spoken repeatedly about a desire for all of the team’s leaders to be in “alignment” going forward. It’s also why Durant and his manager Rich Kleiman are being kept in the loop during this summer’s trade talks.
Still, while the Suns would ideally like to find a deal that Durant is happy with, finding “alignment” with the star forward on that front is ultimately less important for the franchise than maximizing its return in any KD trade, as Bontemps and Windhorst observe. League sources who have spoken to ESPN believe Phoenix may have a hard time finding a package the front office will be satisfied with, though there’s still a sense a deal could get done before or during the draft.
Bontemps and Windhorst identify the Clippers as one potential dark-horse suitor to watch in the Durant sweepstakes, echoing an earlier report from John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7.
Here are a few more highlights from that ESPN report:
- Due in part to a lack of high-end free agents and teams with cap room, one source who spoke to ESPN predicted the draft will be busier than normal in terms of trades and might even be the summer’s “high point of activity.”
- The Knicks were declined permission to speak to five head coaches currently under contract with rival teams, but there’s a belief that those initial denials may not be the end of the team’s pursuit of Mavericks coach Jason Kidd and/or Bulls coach Billy Donovan, per Bontemps and Windhorst. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link) has heard similar rumblings, but he says Donovan “isn’t going anywhere” and is “in Chicago to stay.” We wrote more on Thursday about why New York may not be ready to move on from Kidd right away.
- While there’s an expectation around the NBA that it may take the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($14.1MM) to sign free agent guard Ty Jerome this summer, the Cavaliers are hopeful that he’ll be willing to re-sign in Cleveland for a little less than that, sources tell ESPN. With starting point guard Darius Garland coming off toe surgery, the Cavs may feel some added pressure to bring back Jerome, but the cost would be high, since the club projects to operate above the second tax apron and will face a substantial luxury tax bill.
- In case you missed it, Bontemps and Windhorst also shared a handful of Bucks-related notes and rumors, which we rounded up in a separate story.