3 Teams the Sixers Have to Worry About in Kevin Durant Sweepstakes

It’s been nearly two months since Kevin Durant revealed he would like to be traded away from the Brooklyn Nets. At the time, only the Phoenix Suns were linked

It’s been nearly two months since Kevin Durant revealed he would like to be traded away from the Brooklyn Nets. At the time, only the Phoenix Suns were linked to the former MVP as a serious threat to land him.

Since then, the KD-to-Phoenix hype simmered, and several other teams entered the picture. Count the Philadelphia 76ers as one of a handful of teams linked to Durant.

A few weeks back, several reports indicated that members of the Sixers’ organization would like to seriously explore a trade to form a star trio of Durant, James Harden, and Joel Embiid.

However, Shams Charania of The Athletic didn’t inspire much hope for a Harden-Durant reunion in Philadelphia on Monday with his latest KD-related new dump.

Charania reiterated that the Sixers “expressed recent interest” in Durant. In the end, the conversations between the Sixers and the Nets failed to gain traction. Sure, they could heat back up in the future, but it seems the Sixers have some tough competition in the Durant sweepstakes.

Multiple teams are steadily inquiring about what it would take to land Durant. Unfortunately for Philly, three of those teams are Eastern Conference playoff contenders. Per Charania’s report, three Eastern Conference teams are labeled as “serious threats” to land Brooklyn’s disgruntled star.

Who to Worry About

The Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, and the Miami Heat are the most prominent players in the Durant sweepstakes because they “have the types of pieces necessary to satisfy the Nets’ asking price in a deal” for Durant, per Charania.

However, those three squads have yet to find common ground with the Nets, who are keeping their asking price high since they hold the leverage over Durant and his contract.

Landing Durant would immediately boost any of those teams mentioned. Fortunately for the Sixers, it seems that despite the Celtics, Raptors, and the Heat being the most serious threats to land Durant, trade discussions have been described as “non-existent” recently, as two of the three teams refused to make players that Brooklyn has noted interest in unavailable. 

With training camp still a month away, Brooklyn won’t rush to trade Durant. Therefore, the saga will likely continue until the next phase of the offseason. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.