Report: Kevin Durant Was Interested In Playing For Knicks, Who Will Not Pursue Suns Star

According to Marc Stein of The Stein Line, Kevin Durant was interested in playing for the New York Knicks. 

However, the Knicks are not pursuing a Durant trade. 

“The Stein Line has learned that the Knicks also would have featured on that list but were ultimately omitted when New York made it clear that it has decided against pursuing a trade for the NBA’s No. 8 all-time leading scorer,” Stein wrote. 

Durant, 36, wants the Suns to trade him to the Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs or Miami Heat. The NBA legend, though, can’t control where he gets traded because he doesn’t have a no-trade clause in his contract. 

The Knicks made the conference finals this year for the first time since 2000. They lost to the Indiana Pacers in six games. 

New York fired Tom Thibodeau as head coach after losing to Indiana. Thibodeau, who has coached the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves, was hired by the Knicks in 2020. He went 226-174 in the regular season and 24-23 in the postseason and won the 2021 Coach of the Year Award. 

The Knicks have been denied permission to speak with Atlanta Hawks coach Quin Snyder, Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka, Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch and Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan. 

Durant almost signed with the Knicks in 2019. He and Kyrie Irving wound up joining the Brooklyn Nets. 

The eighth leading scorer in NBA history, Durant won back-to-back championships and Finals MVPs with the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018. He tore his right Achilles tendon in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals between the Warriors and Raptors and missed the entire 2019-20 season. 

Durant is still one of the best scorers in the NBA. He averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists for the Suns this season in 62 starts while shooting 52.7% from the field, 43.0% from beyond the arc and 83.9% from the free-throw line.