League Interest in Former Knicks Target Decreasing

As Hoops Wire writer Sam Amico alleges, the 15x All-Star is fully entering his late-30s, and serves more as a name than the piece a team needs to get over the championship hump.

"I get the sense that the teams that are most interested are the really bad ones. … Most teams that want him are teams that just want to sell some jerseys," a scout told Amico.

He's still a model of efficiency in approaching two decades as an NBA centerpiece, averaging nearly 27 points on his typically great 53/43/84% shooting splits, but as Amico reports, his reputation as a team-hopper who's always got his eyes on his next stop has started to catch him.

”At this stage of the game, though, he’s 36, 37 years old, I don’t see a real benefit in giving up much for him," the anonymous scout continued. "He’s not leading anyone to the promised land anymore. I really could see him getting traded somewhere that he maybe doesn’t want to be.

“A team could take him as a rental to move merchandise for a year, and that’s not a terrible idea. Just don’t mortgage the future. Anyone from that 35-and-over crowd isn’t worth it these days. Kevin Durant is part of that crowd now.”

Phoenix has made its intentions of trading Durant no secret, with the whole league expecting a trade to materialize before the upcoming NBA Draft. They've also made no commitment to send the player where he wants, still surveying the league for the best offer they can find. They don't have nearly as much leverage as some may think, which is likely to result in chaos in the coming days.