In a late-night deal hours in advance of the trade deadline on February 9, 2023, the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns pulled off a blockbuster trade that sent future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant â considered one of the top 15 greatest NBA players of all time â to the Phoenix Suns. The Nets sent one other player to the Suns, T.J. Warren who now plays for the New York Knicks G-League affiliate, but got back a significant haul of draft picks.
The Suns appeared to mortgage their future in favor of a “win now” plan. Durant joined four-time All-Star Devin Booker and at the time, another future Hall of Famer in Chris Paul on the Suns in 2023. The following offseason, the Suns traded Paul away and added veteran three-time All-Star Bradley Beal from the Washington Wizards, creating a “Big Three” in Phoenix.
And yet, the Suns continued to struggle. With their “Big Three,” Phoenix managed 49 wins in 2023-2024, and promptly lost in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
So far in the current season, Phoenix is in danger of missing the postseason completely for the first time in five years. As of Tuesday, they sit at 30-35, 11th-place in the West, 2 1/2 games behind the Dallas Mavericks in a race for the final berth in the play-in tournament.
Is Durant Era Really Over 2 Years After it Began?
And now, barely more than two years after it began, the Kevin Durant era in Phoenix appears to be “over.” That is the view of Suns insider journalist Duane Rankin, as he wrote in The Arizona Republic on Saturday.
Earlier this year, Phoenix attempted to move Durant to the Golden State Warriors, the team with which he won two NBA championships in 2017 and 2018. But the NBA’s eighth-highest all-time points scorer made it clear that had had no interest in returning to the Bay Area. According to sources who spoke to Rankin, the fact that Phoenix had inserted his name into trade discussions at all left Durant “upset.”
“Between the Suns having already looked to move Durant, him publicly saying he understood it and his camp taking issue with those talks, it’s hard to see him staying in Phoenix beyond this season,” Rankin wrote.
Suns Can Use Durant to Get Back Lost Draft Picks
So what can the Suns do with Durant? According to Rankin, the franchise needs to use him in a trade designed to jump-start a rebuild of the team. To obtain Durant two years ago, Phoenix gave up four first-round picks â in 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029. Trading Durant must allow the Suns to get a new set of first-round draft selections, Rankin wrote.
“The Suns donât have any control of their first-round picks from now until 2032 and they canât currently trade their 2032 first-round selection due to being over the second apron,” Rankin wrote. “Sources informed The Republic the most ideal return on a Durant trade is regaining three first-round picks and a young player as part of a multi-team deal tied to getting under the second apron.”
The second apron is the payroll level that comes with a substantial “tax” penalty for teams that surpass it. Shedding the $54.7 million that Durant will be owed in the 2025-2026 season will go a long way toward getting Phoenix under the second apron. The Suns are currently about $26 million over that $188,931,000 limit.
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