The Los Angeles Lakers are looking for a way to improve their roster this summer ahead of next season, and one of the names that have been mentioned the most for a few weeks now is that of Kevin Durant, one of the biggest stars of the NBA firmament who is frustrated and could consider asking for a trade after the Suns‘ poor season, in which they finished sixth in the Western Conference with a 49-33 record before being swept by the Wolves in the first round of the Playoffs (4-0).
The big stumbling block in a hypothetical negotiation is that the forward still has two more years left on his contract with Phoenix at $51.1 million next season and $54.7 million in 2025-26 (he is the second highest paid player in the NBA), and the Suns would only accept his departure to the Lakers if they decided to go for him if they put on the table the name of Anthony Davis, another of the League’s big stars, to start talking about a trade.
That priority condition is not one the Lakers are willing to meet under any circumstances, ESPN reporter Brian Windhorst said, citing sources he consulted with the Los Angeles franchise executives.
“The only trade that would work for Kevin Durant, because the Suns have made that clear, is Anthony Davis … but the Lakers say no,” Windhorst said. “Conversation over.”
The dream of the Lakers would be to form a galactic ‘Big Three’ next season with Anthony Davis, LeBron James and Kevin Durant, but in order to get the latter, they flatly refuse to let ‘The Eyebrow’ be a bargaining chip in a hypothetical negotiation, which for now makes it impossible for that operation to be carried out.
According to some U.S. media, the Lakers would be willing to make a proposal to the Suns without Davis, but including several of their players and some future draft picks. This was revealed by the specialized basketball website heavy.com: “The Lakers could send point guard D’Angelo Russell, shooting guard Max Christie, small forward Taurean Prince and power forward Rui Hachimura to Phoenix, plus two future first-round draft picks”.
That doesn’t seem like enough of a haul for the Suns to agree to part with their star in return.