The Golden State Warriors tried to trade for LeBron James and Kevin Durant at the same time before acquiring Jimmy Butler, an NBA source told Hoops Wire. 

Durant wasn’t interested in getting traded by the Phoenix Suns

Meanwhile, LeBron has a no-trade clause in his contract and didn’t want to leave the Los Angeles Lakers, who acquired Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks. 

The Warriors pivoted to Butler, who requested a trade from the Miami Heat. Butler agreed to terms on a two-year, $112 million contract extension with Golden State that runs through the 2026-27 season.

LeBron, Durant and Stephen Curry — three of the best players in NBA history — were teammates on Team USA during the Paris Olympics. The United States won the gold medal. 

Curry didn’t talk to LeBron about playing together, but the sharpshooter did speak with Durant, according to NBA insiders Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

“It was a lot to digest. So Durant and Curry discussed the idea on Saturday, hours before the poker tournament. Curry wanted to get a read on how Durant would feel about returning to the team he’d chosen to leave after the 2019 Finals, sources said,” Shelburne and Windhorst wrote. “Durant told him that it didn’t ‘feel right’ and that this ‘wasn’t the time’ to revisit their basketball partnership, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the conversations. That he was happy in Phoenix and wasn’t looking to play elsewhere.

“It was a soft ‘no,’ one that discouraged the Warriors’ decision-makers, but didn’t fully deter them from pursuing talks with the Suns. They hoped Durant’s feeling about a reunion might change once he learned the extent to which Phoenix had engaged in trade conversations with multiple teams without involving him.”

Durant and Curry were teammates on the Warriors from 2016-17 to 2018-19. The two NBA legends led Golden State to two straight championships in 2017 and 2018, with Durant winning two Finals MVPs. 

In Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors, Durant tore his Achilles. The Warriors lost to the Raptors in six games and Durant signed with the Brooklyn Nets in the offseason.