NBA trade rumors: 2 Kevin Durant suitors emerge, latest Giannis update, and Cavs star available
The 2025 NBA Finals are in full swing between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder, but it's already the offseason for the other 28 teams in the league. ESPN insider Shams Charania has predicted this will be the 'craziest' summer of player movement ever, and the rumor mill is heating up with the draft and free agency both just weeks away.
The first-round of the 2025 NBA Draft will take place on Wednesday, June 25, with the second round following the next day. NBA free agency will unofficially get underway on July 1 when talks can open between players and teams. Free agency deals won't be official until July 6. While this is a weaker crop of free agents at the top of the class, there is some intrigue around young restricted free agents Josh Giddey and Jonathan Kuminga.
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Here are the latest NBA rumors about the draft and free agency coming out over the weekend.
Kevin Durant's suitors are lining up
The worst kept secret in the NBA is that Kevin Durant is going to be traded in the offseason. We named six teams who feel like a natural trade partner for the Phoenix Suns in this deal earlier this year. It feels likely a Durant deal will get done soon, and two teams are already emerging as popular trade candidates.
Long-time Phoenix Suns reporter John Gambadoro reported that Durant mentioned the Spurs to a friend as a possible landing spot. 'I know somebody who has been with Kevin Durant recently. And Kevin Durant and this person talked about the Spurs.'
The Toronto Raptors are another team being mentioned for Durant. ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported Toronto is interested in making a big trade this summer earlier this week. NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer named the Raptors as a Durant suitor, saying that Toronto has a much easier pathway to landing KD than it does trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
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The Houston Rockets are another logical Durant suitor, but there are conflicting reports on talks between the teams recently. There have been some whispers that the Suns want a lottery pick in the 2025 draft in a potential Durant deal. Given Phoenix's obvious bias for Michigan State alums, would they try to target point guard Jase Richardson?
Now that the Suns have hired a head coach and GM, expect Durant trade talks to go quickly. The only thing holding them up may be the status of the only player potentially available this summer who is better than KD.
Giannis Antetokounmpo leaning towards staying with Bucks?
Will Giannis Antetokounmpo request a trade away from the Milwaukee Bucks this summer? The NBA has been hanging on that question from the moment Damian Lillard tore his Achilles in the first round of the 2025 playoffs. There's no viable pathway to contention for the Bucks next season without Lillard, and the team wasn't particularly close to contending even with him. Milwaukee has no future draft capital or salary cap flexibility to improve the team in the near or medium-term. Given Antetokounmpo's frequent comments about wanting to win multiple championships in his career, it sure feels like this a good time for him to move on from the Bucks.
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Not so fast. According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, there is 'not a lot of belief right now' that Giannis will actually request a trade. Maybe Antetokounmpo believes the East will be open next year after Jayson Tatum's Achilles tear doomed the Boston Celtics' contention chances. Antetokounmpo and his wife also welcomed their fourth baby last month, so this might not be the best time for a change of scenery.
Finally, there was also a report that the Knicks are expected to make a big offer for Giannis. Sadly for them, the Knicks already traded a Giannis package for Mikal Bridges last summer. New York just has nothing to trade in terms of future picks, and it sure doesn't seem like the Bucks will want Karl-Anthony Towns or Bridges back.
Antetokounmpo really should request a trade from Milwaukee this summer if his biggest priority if winning another championship while he's still in his prime (he'll turn 31 years old in Dec.). Giannis has always seemed happy in Milwaukee, though, where he's had the whole organization catered around him. It's perfectly fine if he doesn't want to leave that yet.
Cavs making Darius Garland potentially available in trade?
The Cavs' won 64 games this season, the second-most in the NBA behind the Thunder. That only made their second round playoff exit at the hands of the Indiana Pacers tougher to swallow. The Cavs have a few notable free agents this summer (Ty Jerome, De'Andre Hunter, Sam Merrill) that they will have trouble keeping with a massive payroll and potential second apron crunch coming. Cleveland governor Dan Gilbert has always spent a lot of money to field a competitive team, and getting the Cavs to take the next step is going to require not just money, but also creativity from the front office.
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Could the Cavs move off one of their 'core four'? ESPN's Brian Windhorst named 25-year-old All-Star point guard Darius Garland as a player the Cavs could potentially move this season.
Garland is really, really good, and his foot injury was a big reason why Cleveland flamed out early in the playoffs. If Cleveland really does trade Garland, expect another good young player and a draft pick to come back.
The Cavs are going to be in a great spot in the East next year regardless. Cleveland joins the Pacers and New York Knicks as the early front-runners in the conference with Boston expected to have a down year because of Tatum's injury. The East is wide open, and this summer is the ideal time for Cleveland to make a push to get even better.
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