Report: 76ers asked Suns on trade availability of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal

Very rarely do NBA observers hear about trade discussions that didn’t go anywhere, especially in the relative moment. The past deadline is an exception.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne report that the Golden State Warriors opened a line to LeBron James’ representatives through the Los Angeles Lakers to determine if he would want to seek out a trade to team with Stephen Curry before last Thursday’s deadline. The answer was a “no,” but the insight into how aggressive some executives are about double-checking on superstar satisfaction with their current teams apparently isn’t isolated to Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr.

Detailed in the ESPN piece is a quick reference to Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, who also inquired about James. But that went nowhere.

Asking about players not on the block is apparently a common practice for Morey.

That’s because Morey, according to ESPN, also called the Phoenix Suns to see if Kevin Durant could be available. Phoenix told him Durant was not for trade, which led to Morey then asking about Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. He got the same answer there.

Wojnarowski and Shelburne add that the Lakers-Warriors interaction was a bit more in-depth and worked at the ownership level between Los Angeles’ Jeanie Buss and Golden State’s Joe Lacob.

Buss told Lacob the Lakers had no desire to trade James, but that he would need to seek the answer on James’ state of mind from his agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, sources said. As an owner, Buss has operated with the mindset that she wants her star players content with the franchise, and that instructed her thinking on referring Warriors leadership to James’ representation, sources said.

If the Lakers ever wanted a temperature check on James’ commitment, here was his chance. In the end, the answer was returned resoundingly on the eve of the trade deadline: Rich Paul told Lacob and Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr., that James had no interest in a trade and wanted to remain a Laker, sources said.

That’s not the only fun non-news that has become news since the deadline.

The Washington Wizards and Kyle Kuzma spoke openly with The Athletic’s Josh Robbins about a discussed trade that would have landed the forward with the Dallas Mavericks.

A framework of that deal was in place, but Kuzma said first-year Wizards president Michael Winger told him about the agreement and left the decision up to the forward. Kuzma opted to stay and continue building in Washington.

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