Kevin Durant Nearly Joined Celtics at Trade Deadline

The Boston Celtics have been interested in Kevin Durant for quite some time. Their interest in him goes all the way back to the 2007 draft when he was coming out of Texas.

Boston was hoping to land the number-one pick in that draft. Instead, they ended up with the fifth pick. Had they had the top pick. Danny Ainge claims that he would have taken Durant.

Durant has been rumored to be a trade target for Boston a lot over the years, but nothing has ever happened. It almost happened again this year, and it was the closest it's ever been to happening.

The Boston Celtics finally almost landed Kevin Durant in a trade at the deadline

According to Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor, Durant had an interest in joining the Celtics at the trade deadline this year. He also had an interest in joining the New York Knicks.

It doesn't seem like the Knicks have an interest in acquiring Durant anymore after the run they just made to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics have too many cap issues to make it happen, either.

The only way the Celtics could pull something off is if they are somehow able to offload both Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday to the Suns while also getting Durant.

The biggest issue is that both teams are in the second apron, meaning that the salaries have to exactly match in any trade. It might be too complicated to get things done.

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Boston is unlikely to make a move for Durant now that he has made his trade preferences known. Of course, the Suns don't have to send him somewhere that he wants to go.

With how poorly the Durant experiment has gone in Phoenix, the Suns could just take the best offer that they get for Durant. The question is whether or not one of the teams that Durant is not interested in would pony up a big enough offer.

This season, Durant averaged 26.6 points, six rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game. He shot 52.7 percent from the field and 43 percent from beyond the three-point arc.

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