The Phoenix Suns under Mat Ishbia have been as aggressive as possible in trying to get stars and compete for a championship. But can all of that backfire? After the latest trade to acquire three first-round picks for their lone 2031 first-round pick, we can look at the Suns from two different angles.
ESPN Insider Suggests Phoenix Suns Trade Kevin Durant
Kevin Pelton, a resident ESPN writer and an analyst suggests that the Suns front office should get reasonable and realistic. The only way they can do that is to try and trade Kevin Durant and get back some of their draft capital.
Pelton gave the Suns a C- grade for their trade with the Utah Jazz. In that trade, Phoenix traded their 2031 first-round pick for three picks, the least favorable of Cleveland and Utah in 2025, and the least favorable of Utah, Cleveland, and Minnesota in 2027 and 2029. The assumption is they will use those picks to get Jimmy Butler to come to Phoenix. And if that happens, the Suns will have no picks, first or second, until the next decade.
According to Pelton’s analysis,
“A realistic front office would consider the possibility of trading Kevin Durant before the Feb. 6 deadline to recoup some of the draft picks the Suns are out. Instead, Phoenix has extended the stretch without control of its first-round picks through 2031, meaning the Suns won’t benefit from their own losses when they are inevitably forced to rebuild.”
Can Durant and Booker Win a Title in Phoenix?
This is Durant’s third season (second full) with the team. He was traded to Phoenix at the 2023 trade deadline but played only eight games for the Suns that year. Some freak injuries kept him away from the floor, like rolling his ankle during warmups before the Suns-Thunder game on March 8.
Last year, Durant and Devin Booker played 75 and 68 games respectively. They were healthy for much of the season. However, their third wheel, Bradley Beal, played in only 53 games. As a result, they won only 49 games and finished sixth in the Western Conference. The Suns lost in a 4-0 sweep in the first round of the playoffs to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
So far this season, Durant has played in 37 games, Booker in 32, and Beal in 30 out of 42 games. Their record is 21-21, tied with the Golden State Warriors for 10th in the Western Conference. The Suns hope that with Butler instead of Beal, they can climb up and hope for health in the playoffs. They are currently two and a half games behind the sixth-seed Lakers.
What Can the Phoenix Suns Get for a Kevin Durant Trade?
If the Suns ever decide to go the rational path and trade Durant, there will be plenty of teams looking to get him. The two main competitors will likely be the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors. The Rockets have several of the Suns’ picks, and they can allow Phoenix to bottom out and rebuild. The Warriors would likely try to make one final push, and the Durant-Steph Curry pairing has proved successful in the past.
The time to trade Durant would be either at the deadline or in the summer. With the current construction of the team, they will be over the second apron for the 2025-26 season as well. The 2026 summer is the time that they can get under the cap and get some relief. Looking at his history, Mat Ishbia is not a person who wants to take a slow and steady approach.
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