Despite being one of the NBA’s premier talents, Kevin Durant’s field of suitors this summer might not be overly expansive.
Durant will be one of the headliners of what’s poised to be a wild basketball offseason. The star forward, obviously, will have no trouble finding a max contract on the open market, but any team interested in signing him will need to be content with being patient. A ruptured Achilles in Game 5 of the NBA Finals all but certainly will eliminate Durant’s 2019-20 campaign, which reportedly has halted at least two previously interested team’s pursuits of the two-time Finals MVP.
“While sources close to Durant and the teams involved say neither the Knicks nor Nets are concerned about signing him to a maximum four-year deal even if he’s unavailable most of next season, his injury has shrunk the number of teams interested overall,” Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher writes. “One league executive said the Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers, who were both at one point interested, have backed off their pursuit because they are focused on building off their playoff success this past season.”
Bucher’s report isn’t all that surprising. Kawhi Leonard appears to be the Clippers’ priority in the coming weeks, while the 76ers very much are in win-now mode. The Knicks and the Nets, meanwhile, likely would be more comfortable waiting for Durant’s return as they build toward the future.
It’s tough to imagine the Achilles injury will impact the Warriors’ interest in re-signing Durant, but the 30-year-old reportedly isn’t very happy with Golden State at the moment.
