Diving into the Latest Kevin Durant Trade Rumors

What are the latest Kevin Durant trade rumors? What would the Spurs' salary cap situation look like for the next three years if Durant signed an extension with San Antonio?

Photo credit: NBA.com/Suns, Christian Petersen

On Wednesday, ESPN’s Shams Charania had new reporting on the Kevin Durant trade situation. Here were three nuggets that stood out to me from Shams’ article:

• Shams named five teams that have expressed interest in Durant, with the San Antonio Spurs being mentioned alongside the Houston Rockets, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, and the New York Knicks. According to two news outlets from New York, the Knicks no longer have interest in trading for Durant.

• Shams also mentioned “several wild-card” suitors have made inquiries according to his sources. Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro mentioned that he thinks the Los Angeles Clippers are among the teams that have expressed interest in Durant.

• Finally, Shams mentioned how Durant has a “desire for a long-term extension” that could be a critical factor in where he plays next. I explored Durant’s extension options last week in more detail, where he can sign a 2-year, $112 million extension now, or wait six months, and sign a 2-year, $124 million extension. (More on the extension scenarios below).

In his radio show on Wednesday, Gambadoro reiterated that he’s heard Durant is interested in joining San Antonio. Gambadoro said that while his reporting is that Durant would prefer to join San Antonio, he’s not aware yet which other teams Durant is interested in joining.

Now, I would like to share some thoughts on some of this new reporting. From there, I looked at the Spurs’ cap sheet for the next three seasons in a scenario where they traded for Durant and then signed him to a contract extension.