Suns reportedly prioritizing centers in Kevin Durant trade talks

The key to acquiring Kevin Durant may be trading a center.

The Phoenix Suns are telling teams a center is at a premium in trade talks for Durant, Action Network's Matt Moore reported in his Substack on Tuesday. Moore noted that the Suns' "biggest interest is in solving the center position," a weak spot on the team since they traded Deandre Ayton. The Minnesota Timberwolves reportedly tried to acquire Durant at this year's trade deadline, are expected to revive talks this summer and now are even the betting favorites to land him.

Should the Timberwolves go all-out in their pursuit of Durant, they do have more than capable big men to offer the Suns. They restructured Rudy Gobert's contract in the offseason, making it far more favorable for a team potentially interested in his services, particularly amid a free agent market that lacks game-changing big men. Perhaps Phoenix is interested in Naz Reid, who's undersized for a center but can score, stretch the floor, rebound the ball and has improved defensively.

But questions remain whether the Suns would be interested in either of Minnesota's bigs, and whether Minnesota would be willing to part with them to acquire a soon-to-be 37-year-old Durant. While Durant still puts up numbers with the best of them, coming off a year in which he averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, he's getting to the end of his NBA career, and it's unclear whether a team will want to sell the house for him on a nearly $55 million price tag.

Trade talks will certainly be heating up soon, and only time will tell how interested the Wolves are and what they might be willing to give up in a trade for an aging star, but who's also one of the NBA's all-time greats.

Recommended articles