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5 best fits for Kevin Durant including the Suns, Heat and Blazers

By Chase Hughes

5 best fits for Kevin Durant including the Suns, Heat originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

Kevin Durant has reportedly requested a trade out of Brooklyn, just hours before NBA free agency is set to open on Thursday. It’s about as big a news story as they get and what happens from here is anyone’s guess. We know he considers the Heat and Suns among his preferred destinations. We also know Damian Lillard likes the idea of Durant joining him in Portland.

Still, the possibilities seem to be just about endless. With that in mind, here are five teams that could make sense in basketball terms and why…

Miami Heat

Not only are the Heat a team that Durant evidently would like to play for, and not only do they have the lifestyle of South Beach to sell him on, they also both badly need a lead scorer and have some fairly enticing pieces to offer. Basically, they could justify letting anyone go not named Jimmy Butler or Bam Adebayo. So, say it’s something like Tyler Herro, Max Strus, Gabe Vincent and a treasure trove of first round picks. Does that get it done? Maybe not, but they are close enough to winning a title that you could see why they would take what would ultimately be a fairly big risk. Durant is still amazing, but he’s 34 and under contract for four more years.

Phoenix Suns

Phoenix has Mikal Bridges and restricted free agent Deandre Ayton to offer, which isn’t a bad starting point at all. Throw in some first round picks and you could see why Brooklyn would give it some thought. As long as they keep Devin Booker and Chris Paul, Durant would show up and immediately raise the ceiling for the Suns, who already had the best record in the West this past season. Durant and Paul could help each other polish off their Hall of Fame resumes, while Booker and Durant trading buckets would be super fun to watch.

Portland Trail Blazers

Maybe it’s wishful thinking on Lillard’s part, but he clearly must be serious about the possibility of playing with Durant by posting that picture of them in Blazers jerseys on Instagram. Portland also happens to have one of the better young players in the NBA in Anfernee Simons, plus they just drafted Shaedon Sharpe seventh overall. Simons alone wouldn’t get a deal done, but the Nets might not be able to do much better than that if a young potential star is what they seek as part of the return. Meanwhile, Lillard and Durant would be must-see TV and the Moda Center, already one of the liveliest arenas in the game, would be a place worth traveling to.

Toronto Raptors

Raptors president Masai Ujiri has proven he’s willing to take some major risks by trading for Kawhi Leonard, who won Toronto an NBA championship before leaving in free agency. It would probably cost a lot more than they gave up for Leonard, but say it’s a package centered around Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, plus a draft pick or two. The Raptors would keep Fred VanVleet, plus reigning rookie of the year and future star Scottie Barnes. Durant would come in and instantly make them title contenders, if not favorites. Barnes would have to grow up quick, but he’s got as much talent as any young player in the league.

Washington Wizards

Yeah, let’s go there. First of all, there are two major hurdles to Durant coming to D.C. For one, he had no interest in playing at home back in 2016. He would have to change his mind. The Wizards also don’t have a young star like many of the aforementioned teams do to offer. However, here’s why it’s worth noting. Durant is clearly still maligned by many basketball fans and national media members for joining the Warriors. Stephen Curry winning Finals MVP this year somehow became an indictment on Durant on every national talk show. Well, LeBron James was in a somewhat similar boat for joining the Heat. But then he went home and ended the title drought in Cleveland. Few athletes have the opportunity to do the exact same thing, but Durant happens to be one of them. If he took the Wizards even to the conference finals, it would be the best season for the franchise since the 1970s. Generations of fans are starving for a winner and, if he won in D.C., Durant would arguably be immortalized to a greater degree here than he would anywhere else.

Wizards 3-point struggles continued in loss to Ja Morant and Grizzlies

By Chase Hughes
Wizards go cold from 3, lose to Grizzlies originally appeared on NBC Sports WashingtonThe Washington Wizards lost to the Memphis Grizzlies 103-97 on Sunday night. Here are five takeaways from what went down...Rollercoaster gameIn the NBA, teams usually go on runs, but Sunday's game between the Wizards and Grizzlies took it to a different level. Washington opened the game with a 9-0 run, then found themselves down 23 points in the third quarter, then erased that deficit to regain the lead in the fourth, only to see the Grizzlies recapture momentum and sprint to the finish for a victory.The game followed the same track as Ja Morant. When he got hot, the Grizzlies built leads. When the Wizards charged back, they were shutting him down. But once he shook their defense off late in the fourth quarter, Memphis was able to pull away.Morant had 23 points, albeit on 9-for-27 shooting with four turnovers, while Desmond Bane led all scorers with 28 points. Meanwhile, the Wizards saw their top players go cold, as Kristaps Porzingis was held to 10 points on 3-for-13 shooting and Kyle Kuzma finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds, shooting 5-for-14.While they put up a good fight in this one, the Wizards have now lost five of their last six games. After starting the season 3-1, they are now 4-6 with the Hornets up next on Monday on the second night of a back-to-back.Beal was outThe Wizards were playing without Bradley Beal, who entered the league's health and safety protocols earlier in the day. It's unclear how long he will be sidelined, as he was in and out fairly quickly during another stint in the preseason. The Wizards started Corey Kispert in his place and also moved Deni Avdija back into the lineup at the three.Kispert played better than he did in his debut on Friday, but is still clearly in the early stages of finding a rhythm. He had six points and three assists, shooting 3-for-6 from the field. Avdija had four points and 10 rebounds, shooting 2-for-12 on the night. Avdija also guarded Morant, continuing his trend of tough defensive assignments, though one has to wonder if Delon Wright would have guarded Morant if he were healthy.Bench helpThe Wizards' bench has not been a strength overall this season, but they gave the team a major lift in this one, outdoing their Grizzlies counterparts 47-35. After the Wizards went down big early, guys like Rui Hachimura, Will Barton, Daniel Gafford and Jordan Goodwin helped them claw back by turning up the heat on defense and adding some much-needed aggression to the Wizards' offense. Barton and Hachimura found holes driving through the Grizzlies' defense that just weren't there earlier in the game for the starters.The Wizards' bench has not played to their potential so far this season, but this game was a reminder of how they could be a plus. Barton and Hachimura give the Wizards some excellent scoring options in the second unit, while Gafford has thrived in the backup center role for much of his Wizards' career. His athleticism was necessary for the Wizards after the starting lineup had trouble keeping up with Memphis' speed.3-point shootingThe Wizards continue to have major problems shooting from the outside. After making only five threes against Philly on Wednesday and eight against the Nets on Friday, they were held to 8-for-41 (19.5%) from the perimeter against Memphis. The 41 attempts were a season-high for the Wizards, but it did not lead to them making more threes.Kuzma was 2-for-9, Porzingis was 1-for-6, Avdija shot 0-for-5, Barton was 1-for-5 and Kispert went 0-for-3. No one could knock them down, even though the Grizzlies entered this game with one of the league's worst 3-point defenses. Maybe the Wizards can take solace in the fact they at least let it fly. Two games ago, against the Sixers, they attempted about half of that number (21). They have some guys who have track records of being better 3-point shooters, so perhaps they can shoot their way out of this slump.Goodwin was solidDespite the loss, Goodwin was a positive, similar to when the Wizards played in Boston a week ago. He got some early minutes with Beal out and took advantage of them, earning a role for the rest of the game that included extended time guarding Morant. Goodwin did some of his best work on the glass with eight rebounds, including four offensive boards. He also took a charge in the third quarter that was part of a 15-0 run by the Wizards.In addition to the rebounds, Goodwin had nine points (4-7 FG), five assists, two steals and a block. He hasn't played much, but has shown plenty of promise with the opportunities he's been given. Remember, Goodwin was undrafted before working his way through the Wizards' system from the G-League to now the NBA on a two-way contract. If he continues to impress, perhaps he could prove to be a diamond-in-the-rough signing like Garrison Mathews was a few years ago.
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