Kevin Durant was not happy he was inserted into Phoenix Suns trade talks and the sides are likely headed for a breakup this summer, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported on Friday.
Durant, more than being upset he was involved in the trade talks, was most upset about not being clued into the fact that those talks were happening, Windhorst said on the Hoop Collective podcast.
“I don’t think they’re going to trade Devin Booker,” Windhorst later added. “Devin Booker wants to be there his whole career.”
Windhorst’s ESPN colleagues were quick to shoot down the idea of Booker staying in Phoenix long term, positing the situation has become so untenable that the only way through it is by a complete and total rebuild in which every star is moved out.
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Another ESPN colleague, Bobby Marks, told Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke on Friday the rest of the current season might have to include some damage control after Phoenix heavily gauged deals for Durant and Bradley Beal.
“You’ve gotta kind of put the genie back in the bottle, right?” Marks said. “Certainly, Bradley’s name has been out there since probably mid-December when (Jimmy) Butler asked to be traded, and certainly with Kevin’s name being mentioned the last few days here, I think you have to make sure you don’t have a fractured locker room.
“This thing could go sideways really quick here, just based on they’ve got the toughest schedule remaining … there’s a mental part of (trade discussions) also.”
Why haven't the Suns been able to make it work with how much talent they have, especially at the top?
ESPN's Bobby Marks discusses with @WolfandLuke:
Watch the full segment: t.co/8Y3ZX4gU53 pic.twitter.com/aYjq69mffU
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) February 7, 2025
“(The Suns) have to stop digging, and they have to start climbing. And frankly the only way they can do that, it’s not just by trading Kevin Durant, they have to trade both guys and they have to start over,” co-host Tim Bontemps said on the Hoop Collective.
Bontemps and fellow co-host Tim McMahon circled the Houston Rockets as a sensible landing spot for Booker, as they have reportedly called about the star in the past and own Phoenix’s first-round picks that would be desirable should the Suns launch a full rebuild.
In the lone deadline day deal the Suns made, Phoenix got off of Jusuf Nurkic’s salary that runs through next season in exchange for Cody Martin and Vasilije Micic, both of whom can be waived in the offseason to get the team under the second apron which has prevented it from many roster-building avenues.
Phoenix is also on track to have two picks in this summer’s draft (currently slated for Nos. 29 and 55), which could help to expand talent around any stars who do stick around.
James Jones has had a solid drafting track record in recent years, netting serviceable players such as Ryan Dunn or Toumani Camara in disadvantageous spots in the draft order, Nos. 28 and 52, respectively.
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