The Boston Celtics are in a phenomenal spot. There are very few teams around the league who would trade places with them right now. Their stars are only 27 and 28 years old, they have an elite supporting cast around them, and they are perennially in the title race. Yet trade rumors continue to plague the airwaves surrounding the team.
Nick Wright of FOX Sports recently went on TV and stated that he’s heard rumors of a potential Kevin Durant trade to the Celtics: “Two totally unrelated people, both of whom have reputations for knowing things that other people don’t know, have said to me, ‘Watch out for Durant in Boston.’ I don’t know even the pieces that would work, and it feels a lot like what Durant got killed for with Golden State before, so it doesn’t make sense.”
But this is absolute nonsense.
Kevin Durant trade makes no sense for Celtics
The Phoenix Suns have been in a state of disarray this season. Boston just clobbered them by 30 in the midst of their desperate attempt to keep their place in the Western Conference Play-In Tournament.
Meanwhile, the Celtics are at the forefront of the NBA Championship race. Yet there are rumblings that they want to shake things up and trade for a soon-to-be 37-year-old superstar?
“They have absolutely no chance of winning any round in the playoffs.”
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) March 25, 2025
— @getnickwright on the Suns pic.twitter.com/SAXLJpQTSg
The only possible explanation is that the Celtics want to get a bunch of money off their books very quickly, as Durant’s contract only has one more year left on it. But that defeats the purpose of their money problems.
Boston has already been a second-apron team for two years. If they hit that mark for one more season, the CBA restrictions kick in. So trading for Durant to “cheap out” would defeat the purpose of “cheaping out.”
Plus, since the Celtics and the Suns are both second-apron teams, the math in a trade becomes nearly impossible. If neither gets under the second apron, the deal is quite literally impossible, as neither side could take back more than they would take in, nor could either side combine salaries.
That means, if they wanted to get a deal done, one team would have to get under the second apron.
Before re-signing Tyus Jones, Monte Morris, Mason Plumlee, Bol Bol, or Collin Gillespie, the Suns will already be roughly $11.4 million over the second apron heading into next year. In order to get under, they would have to trade either Grayson Allen or two of Royce O’Neale, Cody Martin, and Nick Richards without getting much money back. Then they could trade Durant.
On the flip side, if the Celtics want to get under the second apron, they would have to trade one of their top guys—Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, or Kristaps Porzingis.
Then, if they wanted to trade for Durant, they would almost certainly have to trade Brown (or Tatum) for him.
And all of that is without even discussing the fact that Boston would be trading a star player in their prime for an aging superstar in the final year of his contract. Why would they want that?
It’s a foolish rumor that doesn’t make sense in any world. Just embarrassingly bad.