Latest Kevin Durant Rumor Could End Warriors’ Plan To Dethrone Celtics

Pheonix Suns star Kevin Durant has seen an uptick in interest ahead of Thursday’s 3 p.m. NBA trade deadline, creating an immediate looming threat to the Boston Celtics and their championship repeat hopes.

That would, however, depend on whether or not Durant would commit to joining — or rejoining — a potential title contender.

The Golden State Warriors, whom Durant spent two seasons with, are among those interested. Durant signed with Golden State in the summer of 2016 to form a superteam with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson that ruled the sport and reached the NBA Finals three consecutive times. But even though Steve Kerr’s squad would love to have Durant back, the 36-year-old doesn’t share the same desire.

“The Warriors have been seriously pursuing Kevin Durant over the last week, but sources tell me that Durant has no desire in a reunion with the Warriors,” ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Wednesday. “He does not want to go back to the Warriors, where he won two championships, won two Finals MVPs. The Suns’ position in all of this has been to continue to build around Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, but due to their record, teams have been very aggressive calling the Suns.”

Draymond Green was the speculated factor for Durant’s split from the team. During a 2018 matchup, Green told Durant, ‘We don’t need you,’ and dared him to leave — an interaction that surfaced and highlighted the team’s chemistry issues.

Durant’s last two superteam constructions haven’t fared well ever since. The 15-time All-Star departed Golden State. In 2019, Durant signed a four-year contract with the Brooklyn Nets and joined fellow future Hall of Famer Kyrie Irving in an attempt to rule the Eastern Conference. That didn’t work out, leading Durant to play alongside Booker, Bradley Beal and the Suns, who’ve also underachieved.

So it’s no surprise why the Warriors are swooping in like scavengers, aiming to pry Durant out of Phoenix and reunite him with Curry.

Golden State endured a 125-85 whooping from the title-defending Celtics on Jan. 20, which summarized everything that’s wrong with the team. Curry draws the majority of defensive attention, Dennis Schröder isn’t the playmaker the Warriors thought they were acquiring from Brooklyn and contention is a far reach.

That’s not a formula sustainable for keeping up with Joe Mazzulla’s Celtics.

Curry has struggled with the constant double and triple-team coverages, averaging 22.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists on 43.7% shooting from the floor and 39.5% shooting from 3-point range — Curry’s lowest mark since in the past four seasons. The pressure has made Curry a shade of himself, it’s anchored the Warriors to the 10th seed in the Western Conference and has made the front office perplexed.

There’s no other way to put it: the Warriors are the most desperate they’ve ever been since Curry’s arrival 16 years ago. Watching the post-prime years of Curry go to waste is a painful sight for everyone in the Bay Area, and even though Durant swiped left on the team it doesn’t rule them out from a major swap ahead of Thursday.

Boston made a move of its own, trading Jaden Springer and a 2030 second-round draft selection to the Houston Rockets.