Kevin Durant (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
A blockbuster trade proposal has the Phoenix Suns altering the NBA landscape by dealing superstar Kevin Durant to a Western Conference rival.
Kevin Durant hasn’t at all indicated that he wants to leave Phoenix, but back-to-back early postseason eliminations have led to calls for general manager James Jones to blow up the core and trade the future Hall of Famer.
The Suns threw all their chips into the poker table and acquired Durant from the Brooklyn Nets before the 2023 NBA trade deadline. All that has resulted in is one postseason victory, with Phoenix taking down the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round last year.
Phoenix finished 49-33 during the 2023-24 regular season and was swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the opening round of the playoffs. What if one of Phoenix’s Western Conference rivals made a can’t-refuse offer for Kevin Durant?
Jedd Pagaduan of ClutchPoints proposed a blockbuster trade idea that would see Phoenix deal Durant and Grayson Allen to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Jabari Smith Jr., Dillon Books, Tari Eason, Cam Whitmore, Steven Adams, Jae’Sean Tate, four first-round picks and two second-rounders:
“Sure, it takes talent to acquire talent. Teams have to give up something good to get something good in return. But the Rockets can certainly find a way to put together a package that doesn’t involve Alperen Sengun. The same goes for Jalen Green; Green has had his bouts with inefficiency, and he has been benched by head coach Ime Udoka on multiple occasions…
In this scenario, Durant will find himself flanked by players who will make his life easy on both ends of the court. The Rockets should also be able to keep the third overall pick of this year’s draft in this hypothetical, which paves the way for them to draft another talented youngster to add to their burgeoning core and to help them replace the players that they’ll be losing in this deal.”
Love this, @Suns pic.twitter.com/Txg9YWkSQ8
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) August 26, 2024
After three straight losing seasons, the Rockets progressed under new head coach Ime Udoka and finished 41-41. There’s a promising young core intact led by Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green, so adding a player like Durant to the mix would help Houston immediately emerge as a championship contender.
A Kevin Durant Trade Makes Sense For The Suns
Phoenix sold the farm to acquire both KD and Bradley Beal last summer. So if Jones decides to break up the core, it makes sense to trade Durant now and receive valuable young assets in return.
Jones could either use those assets to retool around Beal and Devin Booker or offer some of them up to bring in a third star. The bottom line is that the Suns’ best move is to trade Durant while his value is high.
