Kevin Durant requests trade from Nets, 'wish list' reportedly includes Heat, Suns
If he has it his way this summer, Kevin Durant has played in a Brooklyn Nets uniform for the final time. The 12-time All-Star has some reported top choices for his new team if a deal goes down.
According to Wojnarowski, the other half of the Nets' dynamic duo — Kyrie Irving — has had "no contact" with Durant since the former opted in to his $37 million contract with the club on Monday.
A move to the desert would presumably place "KD" into yet another "Big Three" along with future Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul and All-NBA guard Devin Booker, though standout center Deandre Ayton has been widely rumored to be on the move once in free agency. The Suns finished second in the Western Conference regular-season standings last year and made it to the NBA Finals before recording a conference-best (and franchise-record) 64-18 mark during the 2021-2022 campaign. The Suns were eliminated in the second round by the Dallas Mavericks.
Depending on what the Heat could offer Brooklyn in a potential trade for Durant, a move to South Beach could potentially put the 2013-2014 league MVP with six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler and defensive stalwart Bam Adebayo to form another "Big Three" in Miami. The Heat have been a playoff mainstay since their inception in the late-1980s, having missed the postseason just four times in the last 18 years.
Under widely respected longtime head coach Erik Spoelstra, the team has sandwiched a first-round playoff exit in 2021 with a run to the 2020 NBA Finals in "The Bubble" and a defeat in the Eastern Conference Finals this past spring against the Boston Celtics. Monty Williams is the reigning NBA Coach of the Year in Phoenix.
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