NBA’s Second Apron May Be Suns’ Biggest Obstacle In A Kevin Durant Trade

Kevin Durant’s time with the Phoenix Suns appears to be coming to an end.

On Wednesday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Suns have met with Durant’s business partner, Boardroom CEO Rich Kleiman, “multiple times over the past week and are sifting through trade scenarios.”

Charania mentioned the Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks have all “expressed interest in Durant,” although “several wild-card suitors have made inquiries” in recent days as well. Either way, “the two sides are expected to work together on potential destinations,” he added.

Durant does have some sway over the process given his contractual situation. He’s headed into the final year of his contract at $54.7 million and is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2026. He can sign a two-year, $122 million extension with any team that trades for him, but if he refuses to extend with certain teams, they might not be willing to give up as many assets for him in a trade.

That isn’t the only obstacle that the Suns may have to overcome as they navigate the Durant trade landscape in the coming days, though. Their proximity to the $207.8 million second apron could complicate trade talks with some suitors given the restrictions placed on teams that exceed said threshold.

Where The Suns Stand

Between Durant, Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale, Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro, the Suns already have $193.1 million in guaranteed salary on their books for the 2025-26 season, leaving them less than $15 million below the second apron. Filling out their roster with minimum-salary contracts would push them over it, much less guaranteeing the contracts of Cody Martin ($8.7 million) and/or Nick Richards ($5.0 million).

Since the Suns are a virtual lock to be well over the $195.9 million first apron, they won’t be allowed to take back more salary in a Durant trade than they send out, and they can’t acquire players via sign-and-trade either. If they cross the second apron, they also won’t be allowed to aggregate two contracts in a trade.

Even if they’re over the second apron, they would be allowed to take back less salary for Durant than they sent out. They’d also be able to take back multiple players for him, provided that the sum of their contracts does not exceed his salary.

The Suns could look to salary-dump Allen ($16.9 million) or O’Neale ($10.1 million) to give themselves more wiggle room under the second apron, although the Brooklyn Nets are the only team with enough cap space to take the former without sending any salary back. Teams with access to the $14.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception could use part of that to absorb O’Neale, but salary-dumping him would leave the Suns even more top-heavy than they already are.

Depending on which team they ultimately decide to trade Durant to, they might have to explore those options.

Financial Hurdles

Of the five potential suitors Charania named, the Spurs could most easily acquire Durant without having major financial obstacles to overcome. If they keep the Nos. 2 and 14 picks in this year’s draft and guarantee Julian Champagnie’s $3 million contract, they’ll enter free agency with only $160.6 million on their books. That would leave them roughly $31.6 million below the first apron and $43.5 million below the second apron.

Teams below either apron have far more flexibility from a salary-matching perspective in trades. Since the Spurs would be taking back more than $29 million in salary, they could receive 125% of the salary they sent out, plus $250,000. That means they’d have to send out at least roughly $43.6 million in salary to acquire Durant.

The Spurs would likely send out one of De’Aaron Fox ($37.1 million) or Devin Vassell ($27.0 million) as the main salary-matching chip, while Harrison Barnes ($19.0 million) and Keldon Johnson ($17.5 million) could help balance the math as well. Either way, it’d be fairly easy for them to cobble together enough salary for Durant while still saving the Suns a considerable amount of money.

Other potential trade partners could have a tougher time assembling legal frameworks.

Take the Heat, for instance. They might want to build a deal around Andrew Wiggins ($28.2 million) and Terry Rozier ($26.6 million) along with draft capital, but those two combine to make nearly $54.9 million, or roughly $150,000 more than Durant. They also may sit only $11.0 million under the first apron heading into the offseason, so they’d likely be wary of taking back more salary than they sent out in a Durant deal to avoid getting hard-capped at the first apron.

The Heat could get around that by not guaranteeing Rozier’s full contract—only $24.9 million of it is guaranteed for now—but the Suns would then effectively be trading Durant for Wiggins and draft compensation. They’re reportedly looking for “a comparable package for what they traded to get Durant, which is impact players and multiple draft assets, which Miami might not be able to offer without looping in a third team. (This is where the Brooklyn Nets and their league-high $40-plus million in cap space could help get the deal over the finish line by serving as the financial facilitator.

The Timberwolves, who are straight off back-to-back Western Conference Finals appearances, might face similar challenges if they negotiate with Phoenix. If Julius Randle picks up his $30.9 million player option and they keep the No. 17 overall pick, they’ll enter free agency with at least $175.4 million on their books. Randle and Jaden McDaniels ($24.4 million) combine to make roughly $600,000 more than Durant, so they’d have to reroute one of them to a third team if they wanted that to be the foundation of their trade package.

The Wolves couldn’t sign-and-trade Naz Reid, who has a $15.0 million player option that he figures to decline, to the Suns as part of a Durant deal. They could instead flip Rudy Gobert ($35.0 million) along with Donte DiVincenzo ($12.0 million) or Mike Conley ($10.8 million), although that would leave them perilously thin in the frontcourt.

A Durant trade would be relatively straightforward for the Knicks from a salary-matching perspective. They’d either trade Karl-Anthony Towns ($53.1 million) straight up for Durant or OG Anunoby ($39.6 million) and Mitchell Robinson ($13.0 million). Either way, they’d need to find a third team to take on one small contract such as P.J. Tucker ($3.5 million team option) to avoid triggering a first-apron hard cap.

If the Suns had their way, they’d likely send Durant to the Rockets, who have control over their 2025, 2026 and 2027 first-round picks. The Rockets are well below the first apron and could give themselves even more financial wiggle room by declining their $44.9 million team option on Fred VanVleet and re-signing him to a multiyear deal starting at a smaller number.

The Rockets could use Jalen Green ($33.3 million) or Dillon Brooks ($22.1 million) as their main salary ballast, and they could package some combination of Jabari Smith Jr. ($12.4 million), Reed Sheppard ($10.6 million), Jock Landale ($8.0 million) and/or Tari Eason ($5.7 million) to satisfy the league’s salary-matching rules. Unlike the Wolves, Knicks and Heat, the Rockets might not even need to loop in a third team to swing a Durant deal.

None of these are impossible hurdles for the Suns to overcome. Once Durant makes it clear where he’d like to play next, the Suns and that team can get to work on figuring out how to assemble a legal framework with these restrictions in mind. However, being over the second apron will complicate those talks unless Phoenix finds a way to get under it.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

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