Kevin Durant’s future remains the hottest topic heading into the offseason. Several franchises have emerged as potential suitors for veteran superstars.
Reports suggest that several teams are actively pursuing Durant, and the Oklahoma City Thunder is considered an instant dynasty if they complete the trade. The Houston Rockets and the New York Knicks also participated in the discussion.
Another interesting possibility includes the Minnesota Timberwolves, who own valuable assets and desperately need championship experience.
However, veteran NBA insider Zach Lowe thinks Durant’s acquisition will not be easy for Minnesota.
The Timberwolves face important financial obstacles that could derail Kevin Durant’s pursuit. Their future decisions about free agents Julius Randle, Naz Reed and Nickaire Alexander Walker create a complex web of the impact of pay caps.
“The situation in Minnesota is very complicated. There are three outgoing free agents in Randle, Nazreed and Alexander Walker because of the aprons involved,” explained Lowe in the recent podcast appearance.
Insiders highlighted how player options complicate Minnesota’s flexibility. “The first two have player options that aren’t completely out of range from the amount they’d take if they’d be fitted into the extension.”
Both Randle and Reed reject players’ options, explore favourable expansions, creating additional pay cap pressure in Minnesota. This scenario makes Durant’s $50 million salary significantly more challenging.
Without Randle, Reed and potentially Mike Conley match pay, Durant’s deal will be nearly impossible despite valuable young assets like Minnesota’s Rob Dillingham and Jaden McDaniels.
“In the past few days, Minnesota’s name has appeared in a combination of Durant and an apron and player options, and Mike Conley has to be thrown in as a pay filler,” Lowe pointed out.
One potential solution is to trade Rudy Gobert for a promising player like Rob Dillingham.
Minnesota will sacrifice rim protection, but Lowe believes this kind of package could work, and he says the younger talent is not a player he doesn’t want to lose.
“You threw to Dillingham. I think they don’t want to stop it. I’ll go to Naz Reed with five, but we have that scoring skill so we don’t care about defense anymore.”
This trade-off fundamentally changes Minnesota’s identity, turning them from a defensive powerhouse into an offensive juggernaut built around Anthony Edwards and Durant’s scoring abilities and playmaking.