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Clippers Won’t Include Key Player in Kevin Durant Trade Talks With Suns

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Ashish Mathur | Last updated Jun 16, 2025 4:10 PM ET

The Los Angeles Clippers have been linked to Kevin Durant, who will be traded by the Phoenix Suns this offseason.

Durant almost signed with the Clippers in 2016 before he joined the Golden State Warriors in unrestricted free agency.

LAC has two players on its roster Durant is very familiar with: James Harden and Kawhi Leonard.

Durant played with Harden on the Oklahoma City Thunder and Brooklyn Nets, while Leonard and Durant have been teammates on several All-Star teams.

The eighth leading scorer of all time, Durant wants the Suns to trade him to the Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs or Houston Rockets.

However, the veteran forward can't control where he gets traded since he doesn't have a no-trade clause in his contract.

The Suns are looking to acquire a center in the Durant trade. The Clippers have one of the top big men in the league in Ivica Zubac, but LAC doesn't want to trade him to get Durant, per Jake Fischer of The Stein Line.

"We've been consistently told LA has no desire to part with Ivica Zubac ... as much as Phoenix surely covets the consistently improving center," Fischer wrote.

"The Clippers, however, do hold two future first-round picks and some available swap rights to sweeten a potential Durant offer that would almost certainly require the inclusion of Norman Powell, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Derrick Jones Jr."

Zubac appeared in 80 games for the Clippers this season. He averaged 16.8 points, 12.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks while shooting 62.8% from the floor and 66.1% from the free-throw line.

The Clippers, who have never reached the NBA Finals in franchise history, lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of this year's postseason in seven games.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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