Mar 16, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) dribbles the ball against the Los Angeles Lakers in the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Insider: Knicks Decided Not to Pursue Kevin Durant Trade

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Geoff Magliocchetti | Last updated Jun 15, 2025 4:00 PM ET

The New York Knicks have apparently gone the route of "It's not you, it's me" when it comes to their pursuit of Kevin Durant.

As rumors persist about Durant's fate, which seems all but certain to feature a trade from the Phoenix Suns, several favorites have emerged in the hunt for his services. Most of those rumors don't involve the Knicks, and according longtime NBA insider Marc Stein, that's by their own volition.

"New York made it clear that it’s decided against pursuing a trade for [Durant]," Stein said in his latest newsletter (h/t New York Basketball on X).

Kevin Durant’s list of preferred teams to get traded to would have included the Knicks except “New York made it clear that it’s decided against pursuing a trade for” him, according to Marc Stein @TheSteinLine

More at https://t.co/zFYi0mMqdK pic.twitter.com/kJqkwaeG0s
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) June 15, 2025

Durant and the Knicks have long been linked in hardwood gossip. The trend began when Durant left the Golden State Warriors in 2019, but the two-time champion and MVP opted to join the Knicks' cross-borough rivals in Brooklyn instead, embarking on a futile championship run alongside James Harden and Kyrie Irving.

He was traded to the Suns at the 2023 trade deadline in a deal that also involved future Knicks star Mikal Bridges. Phoenix was swept out of the 2024 playoffs and missed the postseason entirely this time around, leading to the ousting of Mike Budenholzer in favor of Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Jordan Ott.

Durant now appears set to repeat the championship chasing process after the pursuit with the Suns proved equally fruitless. Shams Charania of ESPN listed the Houston Rockets, Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs as teams that Durant "would commit [to] long term but also that the Suns were working with "six-to-eight seriously interested teams" in the transactional process.

Set to turn 37 in September, Durant played 62 games in his second, and likely final, full season with the Suns and averaged 26.6 points and 6.0 rebounds.

This article first appeared on New York Knicks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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