Potential Kevin Durant Trade Could Shake up NBA Draft

On Saturday evening, ESPN’s Shams Charania released the latest information in the Kevin Durant trade saga.

Per Charania: “The Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets are Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant’s preferred trade destinations,” 

For those who have been paying close attention to rumors in the past few months, it’s not necessarily fresh news. But in the least, it’s the most concrete thing we have regarding Durant at the moment. With potential talks on Giannis Antetokounmpo reportedly cooling, Durant will be the next major domino to fall on the market.

Having averaged 26.6 points across 62 regular season games, Durant wasn't able to help the Suns overcome an inadequate roster, eventually leading to Phoenix finishing as the West's No. 11 seed.

Durant’s sure to add talent to his next destination. But his trading could also send shockwaves that would ripple all the way to the NBA Draft.

In sending off the 36-year-old forward, Phoenix is likely wanting to move into a rebuild, adding future draft selections and young prospects in the process.

Should Durant be traded to any of the three, first round picks at the 2025 draft are certainly on the table.

Miami’s No. 20 pick wouldn’t be an earth-shattering acquisition, but Phoenix nabbing a late-lottery pick from Houston or San Antonio would certainly mix things up. From there, the Suns could simply take a chance on a prospect, or even put themselves in position to trade up further.

Phoenix nabbing the No. 10 pick and assets from Houston would especially make sense given that's the teams original selection. In fact, the Rockets grabbed the Suns' future firsts nearly a year ago in a swap with Brooklyn, reportedly to nab Durant.

Regardless, with a Durant deal potentially getting done in the coming days, things league-wide are sure to get shaken up in some capacity.