When a superstar like Kevin Durant is attainable via trade, one would expect a frenzy of interested suitors. But it’s complicated.

On the one hand, Durant, an 11-time All-NBA honoree, averaged 26.6 points per game, while shooting 52.7/43.0/83.9 in 62 games this season with the Phoenix Suns; he missed time due to calf and ankle injuries. On the other hand, Durant, who will be 37 at the start of next season, is entering the final year of a four-year, $194.2 million deal. It’s a balance of whether Durant can get a team over the hump in the next two seasons and if it’s worth giving up a massive trade package and likely a new max contract on top of it.

To date, the Houston Rockets, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors are reported to have varying degrees of interest in acquiring Durant from the Suns.

Here are the cases for and against every Durant suitor acquiring him — with the teams mentioned in alphabetical order.

Houston Rockets

Why they should do it: It’s go time for the Rockets. Following a 41-41 campaign in Year 1 with head coach Ime Udoka — which was a 19-win jump from the 2022-23 season — Houston won 52 games and claimed the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference this season. But after a first-round exit at the hands of the Golden State Warriors, getting a proven No. 1 scorer is of the essence for the Rockets if they aspire to make a deep playoff run. Durant would be the No. 1 scorer that Houston needs, as his arrival would give them a proven, crunch-time isolation scorer who would take some pressure off Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun to make a jump. A defense that was sixth in the NBA in opponent points (109.8 points per game) and opponent shooting percentage (45.9%) would have another rangy forward in Durant, who gives them postseason experience and needed efficient jump-shooting. And Houston has the player and draft pick ammunition to acquire Durant and make another blockbuster trade down the road.

Why they shouldn’t: As tremendous of a fit as Durant would be for the Rockets, they’re also a young team and a franchise that hasn’t made a star trade for their current core. Having that initial move be for a soon-to-be 37-year-old star isn’t something that has to be done, rather it’s a player who would fill a void. Trading for a star player who’s in or entering their prime would be more prosperous for Houston in the long haul.

Miami Heat

Why they should do it: If Miami acquired Durant without trading the kitchen sink, it could spin the situation as it traded Jimmy Butler — who it sent to the Warriors for Andrew Wiggins and a first-round pick, among other assets, at the NBA trade deadline — for Durant, who is likely a tick above Butler in star hierarchy. With Tyler Herro coming off a career year (he averaged a career-high 23.9 points per game) and Bam Adebayo‘s steady two-way play, Miami could at least get back into the Eastern Conference conversation with Durant, who would form a potent offensive trio with Herro and Adebayo. 

Why they shouldn’t: This is a Heat team that was swept in the first round of the playoffs this season and hasn’t won a best-of-seven playoff series since making the NBA Finals in 2023. It’s not the same team that was arguably the class of the Eastern Conference just a couple of years ago. Sure, maybe Herro and Adebayo grow into All-NBA-caliber players, but trading away draft capital and budding players like one or more of Nikola Jovic, Kel’el Ware and Jaime Jaquez Jr. isn’t in Miami’s long-term best interest. If the Heat acquire Durant, are they on par or even knocking on the door of teams like the Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks or a healthy Boston Celtics team? Highly unlikely.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Why they should do it: The uncertainty surrounding Julius Randle‘s future (he has a player option for next season) and the depth that Minnesota has at center with Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid makes it a compelling basketball fit for Durant. Anthony Edwards was held under 20 points in three of Minnesota’s five games against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals, and Randle scored in single digits in two of those games. The Timberwolves lost every game that Edwards and Randle produced those scoring outputs. Durant’s arrival makes it difficult for that offensive struggle to unfold again next postseason, as he provides another player who can create his own shot and score in droves. If Minnesota signs-and-trades Randle to get Durant, it chooses to invest in the four-time scoring champion over Randle and pairs Edwards with a veteran star. In the scenario where the Timberwolves center a trade package around Rudy Gobert and Donte DiVincenzo, they have a deadly scoring trio with Edwards, Durant and Randle, and Reid becomes their full-time starting center.

Why they shouldn’t: The Timberwolves just reached the Western Conference finals for a second consecutive season and did so in what was their first season with Randle and DiVincenzo, who were acquired from the Knicks for Karl-Anthony Towns. There’s a strong argument for Minnesota running it back with the same core and hoping continuity helps it take the next step. If the Timberwolves keep altering their roster with substantial trades every offseason, it makes it difficult for them to build on a successful season.

San Antonio Spurs

Why they should do it: Durant, Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox: sounds pretty amazing, doesn’t it? The Spurs would have three All-Stars, if not All-NBA-caliber players who score in a variety of ways, and it’s three players in completely different parts of their respective careers; Wembanyama is just two years into his NBA career and on the verge of superstardom; Fox is 27 and one of the best guards in the NBA; Durant is on the back nine of his career but still an elite scorer and impact player. San Antonio has a bevy of players who would fit in any system, like Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, the emerging Stephon Castle and Jeremy Sochan, among others. The Spurs could offer multiple first-rounders, two of the aforementioned players and include Harrison Barnes to match salaries in a Durant trade and still have impactful depth with upside in the short term. San Antonio becomes an immediate contender in the Western Conference with Durant. 

Why they shouldn’t: As compelling as a Durant-Wembanyama-Fox trio sounds, the Spurs only saw Wembanyama and Fox play a combined five games together after they acquired the star point guard from the Sacramento Kings in February, as both players had season-ending injuries/health matters. In a way, San Antonio doesn’t yet know how Fox and Wembanyama fit next to one another. Plus, who’s to say that Vassell’s and Johnson’s well-rounded offensive games, Castle’s assertive play and the individual the Spurs select with the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft don’t already fit in-between Fox and Wembanyama? The Spurs could already have a team that jells, and it’s just about getting everybody on the floor. When there’s more of a sample size, they can decide if another star trade is needed. 

Toronto Raptors

Why they should do it: The Raptors are in a rut, and it’s difficult to see them organically playing out of it in the near future. Toronto could center a Durant trade package around big man Jakob Poeltl and one of Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett, among other assets, to get Durant. The future Hall of Famer would serve as a veteran complement to Scottie Barnes, Gradey Dick and whichever one of Quickley and Barrett isn’t in the trade. With Durant in the fold, a scenario begins to shape up where the Raptors could battle for a top-eight seed in the Eastern Conference next season.

Why they shouldn’t: As dull as the results have been of late (no more than 30 wins in each of the past two seasons and three consecutive seasons without a winning record) for Toronto, trading for Durant isn’t going to make it a contender. Durant would be a short-term enhancement that’s likely dated given where he is in his career. It’s also difficult to see Durant signing an extension with a team that isn’t a contender from the second he enters their building. The Raptors have some nice long-term pieces, but adding an enhancement on the free-agent market, as opposed to the trade market, is more prudent, as they can continue to build a core and preserve draft capital.

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