With Victor Wembanyama already a dominant force in the league by year two, the San Antonio Spurs are on schedule to surpass the Golden State Warriors and others on the path to becoming the Western Conference's newest powerhouse.
But that schedule could be accelerated in the coming weeks, with the young Spurs linked to 2x Finals MVP Kevin Durant. According to Arizona Sports' John Gambadoro, Durant's camp is eyeing San Antonio as a landing spot as the Phoenix Suns look to orchestrate a trade for the star forward potentially prior to this month's NBA Draft.
The combination of Wembanyama, Durant and De'Aaron Fox would immediately become a huge problem for the Warriors and others in the West, not to mention the Spurs could retain Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle and take Dylan Harper with the No. 2 overall pick at the draft.
Spurs could look to upgrade Harrison Barnes to Kevin Durant
A few different trade scenarios have already been laid out for San Antonio to acquire Durant, but most of them include another former Warrior in Harrison Barnes. A trade involving the two would be a real full circle moment after they were essentially exchanged for one another nearly a decade ago.
Durant's future was the big talking point of the 2016 offseason, with the then Thunder forward sensationally departing the franchise to join Golden State who had come off a Finals loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
While they weren't linked together in a trade as such, the Warriors had to ship out Barnes -- an NBA champion with the team just 12 months earlier -- to accomodate Durant as a free agent. Barnes signed a four-year, $94 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks, and has since been a consistently solid role player for the Sacramento Kings and most recently the Spurs.
Durant, meanwhile, immediately lifted Golden State to two-straight championships as Finals MVP in 2017 and 2018. It's easy to have envisaged a third-straight title if not for a calf injury turned full-blown torn achilles for Durant in Game 5 of the 2019 Finals against the Toronto Raptors.
The Spurs may be hoping that Durant can provide a similar impact on them should a trade eventually take place. The chances of that may be more limited given he'll enter next season at 37-years-old, but San Antonio will nonetheless retain a bright future in the way Durant's most recent teams -- the Brooklyn Nets and Suns -- haven't been afforded.