It was revealed that the Knicks had offered Durant! The two parties are interested in cooperating with each other to analyze the two major transaction frameworks

On June 6, Beijing time, Shams revealed on the show that before the trade deadline, the Knicks and Kevin Durant were interested in working together, and the Knicks did make a trade offer to the Suns for Durant. Of course, in the end, there was no deal for Durant.

The Suns will almost certainly need to get rid of Durant's $54.7 million salary next season in order to make room for new coach Jordan Ott's roster makeover. Durant himself wants to play for an NBA championship contender, and the Knicks are looking to improve their competitiveness with signings after winning 51 games and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Yahoo reporter Casselberry said a seemingly easy-to-match deal could involve Downs. Downs will be paid $53.14 million next season. But Towns has at least one year left on his contract ($57.07 million for 2026-27), followed by a player option for 2027-28 (worth $61.01 million).

Sidery analyzes another trading possibility. "The reasonable framework that the Knicks and Suns have in place during the season regarding the Durant trade will likely include Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson. The two, plus a veteran base salary, could match the deal for both parties. Durant's salary this season is $51.1 million, and Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson combined are $50.9 million. ”

Interestingly, Durant's former teammate Dream Chaser once talked about the Knicks on a podcast. "They can't win the championship yet, and if they want to win the championship, the Knicks need to bring in a very good player, I can't name it," Dream said. If the Knicks want to win a championship, they need an amazing player, and that's all I can say...... They need an amazing player, and it's none of what I do about it. "Some fans speculate that this very good player that Dream Chaser said is Durant.

However, Shams added that the Knicks need to add depth to their roster, which could be difficult to achieve if they try to trade for Durant. Any roster depth the team has could be used to broker a trade, as they've already sent five first-round picks to get Mikal Bridges. The Suns faced similar roster depth issues after acquiring Durant and Bradley Beal.

It was previously reported that the Suns were closer to a deal with the Warriors before the trade deadline, but Durant made it clear that he didn't want to return to his old club. He himself stepped in to negotiate and prevented the deal from happening.