Report: Wolves made late effort to trade for Kevin Durant before deadline

Nothing ended up happening, as the Wolves were one of four teams who didn't make a single trade prior to the deadline. But it's nonetheless fascinating to hear that Tim Connelly gave Suns GM James Jones a call to inquire about potentially landing Durant.

Any deal would've been complex and likely would've required plenty of creativity to pull off. Because the Wolves are over the second apron, they can't aggregate salaries or take in any more in salary than they send out in a deal. With Durant having a $51 million cap hit that is higher than anyone on Minnesota's roster, the Wolves would've had to get under the second apron to make a trade work.

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Theoretically, they could've completed multiple trades, announced as one, to get under the apron and then acquire KD. But exactly what that would've looked like is hard to imagine. The Wolves aren't trading Anthony Edwards and can't trade Rudy Gobert, so it likely would've had to include Julius Randle, Jaden McDaniels, and Detroit's first-round pick next year, plus future seconds. The Suns might've asked for more desirable assets like Donte DiVincenzo, Naz Reid, or Rob Dillingham. Other teams may have needed to be involved. Who knows?

Durant, 36, is under contract for one more season after this one. Despite all kinds of trade rumors involving the Heat, Warriors, Grizzlies, and other teams, the future Hall of Famer remains in Phoenix for the rest of this season. He's averaging 26.9 points per game in his 17th NBA season and is still one of the most dangerous scorers in the league.

The idea of Edwards and Durant being on the same team is incredibly fun. Ant has said many times that KD is his favorite player of all time, and the two played together on Team USA at last summer's Olympics. Hey, maybe in the offseason?

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