NBA Trade Rumors: Ex-Grizzlies star spells doom for Kevin Durant's chances of moving to contender in "young man's league"

Leading up to the NBA trade deadline, Kevin Durant nearly found himself back on the Golden State Warriors. With the Phoenix Suns struggling to push their way into a playoff spot in the Western Conference, the franchise had a deal lined up to send Durant to the Warriors until he pushed back on the situation.

The way former Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay sees things, Durant's chances of joining a championship-contending team at this stage of his career are pretty slim. During Thursday's episode of ESPN's "First Take," Gay cited Durant's contract as a contributing factor to the situation.

"Any team that is going to make a decision to try to move him and take (Kevin Durant) on is going to have to give up a lot," Gay said. "I personally don't see too many teams willing to do that. " ... This is a young man's league now."

The comments echo similar ones made by Durant on "The Draymond Green Show" on Wednesday, where he said that in addition to not wanting to join a new team midway through the season, he also knows that because of his contract, a lot would go into any sort of potential trade.

Additionally, Durant prefers that any potential trade takes place in the offseason.

"They're going to trade him," - ESPN insider Brian Windhorst confident that Phoenix trades Kevin Durant this summer

While Kevin Durant was able to pump the brakes on a trade right before the deadline, he doesn't have a no-trade clause like Bradley Beal. If the Suns want to trade him, there's little he can do to stop it.

After Durant nearly wound up back in Golden State, NBA insider Brian Windhorst believes that he knows it's only a matter of time before he and the Suns part ways.

During Wednesday's episode of "NBA Today," Windhorst spoke about the situation, predicting an offseason trade.

"They're going to trade him, and he knows that," Windhorst said. "There's been a couple of opportunities where he could have criticized them for trying to trade him. He has not done that. He has been very professional about this. I expect that to continue throughout the regular season. He's going to try to win every game that he's out there. I think he's handled this very appropriately."

The big question is where Durant will land. Leading up to the deadline, Minnesota, Miami and Memphis reportedly spoke with Phoenix about potential deals.

With the Grizzlies looking to add another piece to fuel a deep playoff run and the Timberwolves and Heat looking to establish themselves as contenders, only time will tell if any of the teams can put together a package worthy of landing Durant.