All things considered, the 2023-24 NBA season of the Phoenix Suns was a failure. Despite a loaded roster that features the trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal, the Suns only managed to win 49 wins in the regular season before getting embarrassingly swept in the first round of the playoffs by Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Suns seem eager to run it back with that triumvirate, but they also have over $205 million worth of active salary for the 2024-25 NBA season. If they want to make some space financially, they could do it by letting go of someone like Durant and just accept that their move to acquire the future Hall of Famer from the Brooklyn Nets in 2023 via a trade was a misstep.
Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant to run it back with th Golden State Warriors?
To that end, Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report suggested a trade for Durant from the Suns to the Golden State Warriors with the Dubs giving up Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Kevon Looney, and a first-round pick in next year’s draft.
Would Phoenix admit its mistake in trading for KD and building such a top-heavy roster after just one full year of the experiment? Maybe not, but the Suns are extremely expensive, inflexible and in for a long stretch of ugly seasons whenever their three max players keep declining, get injured or disband.
Trading Durant might be the only way to soften the landing. It’d replenish Phoenix’s stock of young players, picks and depth.
Durant is still a lethal weapon and could give any team a huge boost offensively plus above-average rim protection on defense. Reuniting him with Stephen Curry in Golden State could turn into another title for the Warriors, which would be quite an astonishing narrative for the franchise.
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