The Phoenix Suns would be looking to recoup some of the draft capital they doled out in acquiring Kevin Durant if they are to trade him after this season, The Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin reported on Monday, March 10.
“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,” Rankin wrote.
The Suns gave up four first-round picks and a pick swap on top of Cam Johnson and Mikal Bridges for Durant at the trade deadline in 2023. Most of those picks are now with the Houston Rockets, who are in great position to trade for Durant should they want to in the offseason.
But Durant holds the leverage as he will enter the final season of his original four-year, $194 million contract he signed with the Brooklyn Nets before his trade to Phoenix.
Kevin Durant Wants to End Career on Own Terms
According to ESPN’s NBA Insider Bobby Marks, teams who will pursue the 37-year-old superstar are unlikely to make the move for a one-year rental for Durant.
“A lot of it he’ll dictate as far as what you can get in value based on him willing to extend with that team,” Marks said in an interview with Arizona Sports. “He can extend for I think two years, $120 million. If there’s a team out there willing to throw … a lot at Phoenix and he’s not willing to extend, that’s probably not going to be a deal that will happen.”
The 15-time NBA All-Star is due for $54.7 million next season but Phoenix could get a player or players with a combined salary below that in return to duck the second apron.
As a second apron team, the Suns cannot trade their 2023 first-round selection, their remaining draft capital. Trading Durant is their only way to get more draft picks, regain flexibility and re-tool around Devin Booker since Bradley Beal is adamant not to waive his no-trade clause.
Durant will use his leverage as he enters the twilight zone of a sure first-ballot Hall of Fame career.
“I want my career to end on my terms, that’s the only thing,” Durant said on the “Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis” that dropped on Feb. 26. “That’s the only thing I’m worried about. ‘Cause I see a lot of dudes that don’t get that opportunity, so I want to keep putting in that work to make that choice on my own.”
Kevin Durant ‘Upset’ With Suns Trade Talks With Warriors
Despite Durant’s posturing that he understood the trade talks between the Suns and his former team, the Golden State Warriors, which he thumbed down, as part of the business, it did not sit well with him, according to Rankin.
“Sources informed The Arizona Republic that Durant’s camp was upset Phoenix put him in trade talks before the 2025 deadline last month as he rejected a move back to Golden State where he won back-to-back NBA titles and finals MVPs,” Rankin wrote.
The Warriors were the most aggressive team in pursuing Durant at the trade deadline. They already had a complex multi-team trade framework in place that would have seen Jimmy Butler go to Phoenix and Durant back to Golden State. But a reunion did not interest Durant at the time.
However, he left the door open for one more final run with his Green and Stephen Curry.
“We just play the season out and if that’s the decision you want to make in the offseason then [we] figure it out,” Durant told Green and Davis. “It’s just such a big change to make and I’ve been through it before I was like damn that’s not really it.”
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