The Kevin Durant sweepstakes are heating up on the eve of the NBA Draft in a fortnight, with numerous teams showing interest in the former Golden State Warriors forward.
The San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Miami Heat have all been linked to a move for Durant, but don't expect the Warriors to get involved in trying to reunite with the 2x Finals MVP as they did so aggressively just before the mid-season trade deadline.
The Warriors can't risk Jimmy Butler's happiness for Kevin Durant
Durant was unwilling to move mid-season and rejoin the Warriors, while Jimmy Butler was also against a move to The Bay before the franchise gave him a new two-year, $111 million contract which allowed a blockbuster trade with the Miami Heat to push through.
Between the new contract and significant team success following the trade, the Warriors managed to grant Butler his wish of enjoying basketball again after having lost it over the final few unceremonious months with the Heat.
With Butler the only likely avenue to acquiring Durant in the coming weeks, Golden State simply can't risk their current forward's happiness for a former player who's already shown an unwillingness to rejoin the franchise.
As Anthony Slater of The Athletic noted on the latest episode of the Warriors Plus Minus podcast, it might not be worth flipping Butler for Durant even if the latter is the better player.
"I'm not saying Jimmy Butler's a better player than Kevin Durant, but Jimmy Butler's a content, happy-to-be-here Golden State Warrior who just with this iteration of the Warriors had a very strong finish of the season, helped them win in the first round," Slater said.
Durant would certainly be viewed by most as the better player, but Butler's impact on the Warriors over the final months of the season may be classed as more significant than what Durant has done across the last few years. Either way, it's not enough of an upgrade considering the chemistry Butler built with Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and the like following his arrival.
Without including Butler in a deal, Golden State would be hard pressed to meet Durant's $54.7 million salary on the final year of his contract. They could try and make it work with Draymond Green, Moses Moody, Buddy Hield and smaller contracts, yet the math would become very complicated and leave them with very little depth.
Former Warrior Andrew Wiggins -- who was traded for Butler in February -- could join the Suns if the Heat execute a deal for Durant, while the state of the West may only become more competitive and dangerous if the Spurs, Timberwolves, Rockets or another conference rival land the 15x All-Star.