Suns hold onto Kevin Durant at NBA trade deadline, to explore options in offseason
The NBA trade deadline has passed, and the Phoenix Suns' Big 3 remains intact after they opted to not trade Kevin Durant.
The NBA trade deadline has passed, and the Phoenix Suns’ Big 3 remains intact.
When it became clear Bradley Beal’s no-trade clause was going to be impossible to move for Jimmy Butler, the Suns fielded calls on Kevin Durant but did not come to an agreement. They were close to dealing him to the Golden State Warriors and adding Butler from Miami, but his disillusion with returning to the Bay ended that possibility.
The Suns ended up trading center Jusuf Nurkic and 2026 first-round pick to Charlotte for guard Vasilije Micic and wing Cody Martin, plus a second-round pick. That was their only deal on deadline day despite the deafening noise around their stars.
After the Suns-Warriors-Heat deal became unattainable, other teams called Phoenix about Durant. ESPN’s Bob Myers, the former Warriors general manager, said on NBA Today that the Memphis Grizzlies checked in about Durant. The Dallas Mavericks aggressively went after him, according to SNY’s Ian Begley. The Houston Rockets were also tied to the superstar.
Durant never requested a trade, and ESPN’s Shams Charania said Durant was blindsided by his involvement in trade talks.
Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro noted on Wolf & Luke that it is likely the Suns explore trading Durant over the offseason.
Gambadoro mentioned the Suns had looked at power forwards such as Indiana’s Obi Toppin and Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis, but the asking prices were too high.
Phoenix will roll with mostly the same team going into post-deadline basketball, sporting a 25-25 record and tied for the 10th seed in the Western Conference.
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Comments
13 Comments
I doubt player value will go down much between now and the off season. And waiting till the off season will give them more bidders.
And they can maybe actually try to get players back that fill holes in the roster and upgrade for a better bench mob.
they need to go into the off season with a definite plan. They need a plan if how they're gonna build their offense and defense.
Who they're open to trading or keeping. And no well this player is maybe available but it'll take all assets left and be an over pay to get.
loud if time between now and the off season for them to make and set their plan.
Warriors backed out of the trade because KD told them he wasn’t interested in a reunion. So how do you pull the trigger on a non-existent trade?
Should have negotiated a deal with Houston.
The reports when Durants name first came up in trade talks were that "Durant is aware" and now he's "blindsided"... Which one is it?