The Timberwolves Reportedly Want To Team Up Kevin Durant And Anthony Edwards

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I'd say probably the worst kept secret in the NBA right now is that once the season ends, the Suns are going to move Kevin Durant. Their experiment of trying to buy a super team and skip steps on the way to the top of the NBA mountain hasn't worked, the Suns are easily one of the more disappointing teams in the league this season, and once you get to this point and you're sort of stuck in NBA purgatory, your only real choice is to smash the rebuild button and start over. Considering Bradley Beal has a no trade clause and Devin Booker is the franchise player, the only way the Suns are going to be able to obtain any sort of asset haul for their next era is by moving KD. 

So it's not really an "if" thing, it's a "when" and "to where" thing.

According to Windy? Don't rule out the Wolves

Alright, you know the drill!

I'm sorry, but we're at the point now where we simply cannot ignore these Windy nuggets. I feel like every time we get a little preview of this kind of thing from Windy, it's ultimately what happens. Someone, somewhere, with direct knowledge of this potential situation is telling this to Windy. I'm in.

So, how would this all work? Remember, KD makes $54M next season (guaranteed, not player option), so if you're trading for him, you have to get damn close to that number. Given the new CBA and the 2nd apron rules, the Wolves would have to be creative to pull something like this off, because as of now they are a 2nd apron team, which means you can't combine salaries to make a trade fit. However, after this season, it won't be hard for them to shed some cap holds/salary and get back under the 2nd apron. 

The next hurdle is, of course, the Randle player option ($30M). It wouldn't shock me if the Wolves aren't thrilled about having to pay him a max extension, and I find it highly unlikely that he accepts that option as opposed to turning it down and entering free agency for a new long term deal. Where things get tricky though, is teams are not allowed to participate in sign and trades as a first apron team, which both MIN/PHX are. 

Is there a world where they convince Randle to pick up his option, he plays that final year at $30M and then hits the market/signs a new deal with the Suns? I suppose anything is possible. In a trade between just these two teams, you're looking at a starting point of Randle/Conley/DiVincenzo/Shannon Jr just to make the money work. You may not feel like that's enough for KD, but he's 37 on an expiring contract. That limits his asking price. Throw in whatever picks it takes to make it work, and there is a path.

It's much more likely we see something closer to the Jimmy Butler trade or the Luka trade where there are multiple teams involved given all the CBA restrictions, but the overall point is there is absolutely a path that ultimately ends with KD joining Ant in the Twin Cities. It might not be easy, but it's certainly possible.

If you assume the math/money/picks part will be figured out, there's also this to consider. 

All throughout NBA history, if there's one thing you could always bank on, it's that the Team USA rosters give us an insight as to which stars in the NBA are going to pair up one day. You can go back through every roster for the last 20+ years, and duos that would have sounded insane at the time ended up actually happening.

Why does this matter?

Jesse D. Garrabrant. Getty Images.

We're still waiting to find out which new pairing will come as a result of the 2024 Team USA roster

RvS.Media/Monika Majer. Getty Images.

and again, NBA history says there's going to be a new partnership that comes from this group, so why can't it be KD and Ant? We all thought maybe it would be LeBron/Steph, but that dream is dead. Most likely nobody is joining Embiid in Philly or Haliburton in Indy or Bam in Miami, so really all we're left with is KD/Ant (unless Brad Stevens decides to get frisky). 

So just add it all up. There's a positional/skillset need for someone like KD. He's Ant's all time favorite player, so that keeps your superstar happy, you can find a path to make the money/assets work, the Team USA pairing history, and now Windy laying the breadcrumbs months before this could even happen. I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but this feels like the lock of the century. 

You want to get really nuts? What if Kyrie turns down his player option because the Mavs are a disaster and he hits the market. Maybe he accepts a lower type of deal seeing as how he's now out for basically all of next season, and we live in a world where by next playoffs maybe you're looking at an Ant/KD/Kyrie/Gobert type of roster? The Wolves have a new ownership group under ARod now, and usually new owners make a splash.

I'd say trading for KD would be a good place to start, you just have to pray your gamble goes better than the Suns'.