The Suns’ star Kevin Durant watch is officially on. It’s evident that no one is interested in Bradley Beal’s supermax contract, especially as the Phoenix Suns continue their frantic efforts to acquire Jimmy Butler before Thursday’s NBA trade deadline. The Suns will therefore have to either adjust Durant’s pay to accommodate Butler or think about trading Durant for assets that they may use in the future to restructure the squad around the younger Devin Booker.
According to reports, the Golden State Warriors, Durant’s former team, have been actively pursuing him. Sam Amick of The Athletic claims that the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks are also in the running. There is little doubt that other clubs are also interested in this.
What would the Suns want for in a Durant trade, then? Probably balance. Even if Durant is 36 years old and leaving, they are still working to win, but not at this moment. In order to counterbalance Booker and Beal’s scoring, they would probably prefer to add some defence. Their preferred positions are wings and centres. Here, picks are valuable, but mostly as assets that they can later flip. All the better if they can avoid Jusuf Nurkic.
In light of all of that, let’s make some hypothetical Durant trades. This is what a transaction may look like if the 2014 MVP is dealt this week.
The Golden State Warriors
Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Jonas Valanciunas, and a 2026 and 2028 first-round selection are acquired by the Suns.
Kevin Durant and Patrick Baldwin Jr. are given to the Warriors.
Dennis Schroder, Kyle Anderson, and modified protections on the current 2030 first-round pick that the
Warriors owe them (from top-20 to top-six) are all given to the Wizards.
It should come as no surprise that Durant’s previous employer, the Golden State Warriors, is the first team to have expressed interest in him. To go with Stephen Curry, they really need another scorer. Durant clearly meets the requirements. A team rarely has the opportunity to get back together with a member who helped them win two titles. There is such a chance for the Warriors. It will simply be expensive.
Here, Phoenix transforms a single star into three valuable players. They can use Wiggins right away as the kind of adaptable wing they’ve been lacking. In tiny dosages, valanciunas is at least a useful centre. Kuminga is apparently of some attention to the Suns. Here, he is their upside play. He might be able to thrive playing a more conventional style of basketball away from Steve Kerr’s unconventional, egalitarian system. Consider how much more attractive Kelly Oubre Jr. appeared in Phoenix than he did when playing for the Warriors. Here, that serves as the model, although Kuminga is far more gifted.
Phoenix also receives two unprotected Warriors selections in addition to the players. Phoenix now has five first-round picks to work with in order to get better after adding those two picks to the three they received from the Jazz. It would be very feasible to attach some of them to Nurkic in order to add more win-now talent, particularly during the summer when Nurkic’s contract is about to expire.
