Let’s just say it plainly: the Phoenix Suns won the Kevin Durant trade. And if that makes you uncomfortable, it probably means you’re still clinging to a version of the team and Kevin Durant that was always more illusion than contender.
The trade wasn’t about disrespecting Kevin Durant. It was about moving on from a failed experiment. And the result? The Suns didn’t just reload. They reimagined their future and came away with something they never could’ve had if they held on to Durant for one more go-around...
Hope.
Let’s break it down piece by piece, and then you tell me if the Suns fleeced the Rockets or not.
Khaman Maluach: The Steal of the Draft
The Suns landed an 18-year-old 7-footer who would’ve been the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s draft had he returned to Duke.
Instead, Khaman Maluach fell into the Suns’ lap, a generational defensive anchor with soccer-footed agility, a massive motor, and the upside to become the kind of player who changes franchises. He’s not just a rim protector. He’s a floor-raising, ceiling-shattering building block.
Phoenix got a future superstar. Houston got an aging superstar. That’s not even a fair trade, it’s daylight robbery.
Rasheer Fleming: First-Round Value in the Second Round
Don’t overlook Rasheer Fleming. The long-armed 20-year-old forward was projected to go in the top 20 by multiple scouting outlets but slipped to the second round, where the Suns used assets from the Durant deal to scoop him up.
Fleming defends like his life depends on it, plays with an edge, and has a 7’4” wingspan. That’s the kind of raw material you give to a player development staff and thank the basketball gods for five years later.
This isn’t a project. This is a two-way problem for opposing benches starting Day 1. The Rockets got a two-way problem for their own organization, enjoy the social media burner accounts, and passive-aggressive “I’m just here to hoop” statements.
Jalen Green is Ready for the Leap
Jalen Green is a very young talent, 4 years from his prime, with more upside to give and proven recent success.
The talent has always been there. The handle, the speed, the bounce, the shot creation. But what he needed was structure. A real backcourt partner. A team that believed in his ceiling.
Now he has Devin Booker beside him. With the new coaching staff and Devin as the leader he will have a clear role, score. And he’s entering his age 23 year, right when guys like Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards, and Cade Cunningham hit their breakout.
With Jalen there’s no ceiling here. Just a runway to score.
We don’t talk enough about how rare it is to get a 23-year-old who’s already averaged 21 PPG and led a team to the 2-seed in the playoffs, and we talk way too much about a 36-year-old who averages 26 PPG who the last time he made it out of the second round was 7 years ago.
Dillon Brooks: The Culture Builder
Brooks may be the most hated man on your screen, unless he’s on your team. And now, he’s on ours.
The Suns didn’t just trade for defense. They traded for identity. Dillon Brooks is an emotional engine, a tone-setter, a guy who makes scorers miserable and locker rooms tighter. He’s Marcus Smart with an edge, Patrick Beverley with more game, Draymond without the theatrics (well… maybe less of them).
You want to build a defensive culture? You start with Dillon Brooks.
He’s not a throw-in. He’s a statement.
What Did Houston Get? A Warning Label
I’m sorry Houston, we lied. The Phoenix Suns sold you a lemon that they were willing to chew their arm off to get away from, and you gave us a future. You get a 37-year-old in September that will just hoop and score 25 points per game and ruin all that young positive chemistry that you’ve been building. The Rockets didn’t just get Kevin Durant. They inherited the full Kevin Durant Experience™️. That means:
A 37-year-old star who will iso your team to death and turn the ball over
A mercenary who bails at the first sign of trouble.
A “I’m unbothered, just here to hoop” -er who becomes disengaged when things don’t go his way.
A walking frowny face emoji who turns on fans and media the second criticism enters the chat.
A social media sniper with a burner account and a short fuse.
Let’s be honest: when things go wrong — and they will go wrong — Durant will do what he’s done in OKC, Golden State, Brooklyn, and Phoenix. He’ll disengage. He’ll throw shade. And he’ll plan his escape while the team he just destabilized is left to clean up the mess.
The Slim Reaper always strikes again.
People also criticize Jalen Green for choking in his first year in the playoffs. Durant never made it out of the second round in Brooklyn or Phoenix, was bounced in the first round with each, and completely missed the playoffs this year. But yet we are criticizing a kid in his first playoff series appearance for choking? What does that mean Durant, a veteran superstar, did in Brooklyn and Phoenix?
Houston sent Phoenix a generational 18-year-old big, a 23-year-old rising star, a defensive identity-builder, and a first-round level prospect—for a ticking social media time bomb, who has been riding his two championships with the Warriors for almost a decade now and who’s just waiting for the first misstep to activate meltdown mode.
The Suns Traded the Past for a Future
Kevin Durant was never going to bring a title to Phoenix. It was an illusion from the beginning. We blew up a team for what we thought was our organization's savior, but the truth is we didn’t need saving. And instead of the remedy, Durant turned out to be a poison pill that triggered a difficult reboot. And before you blame Bradley Beal, you should search who was the one who lobbied for Beal to be brought to Phoenix. I’ll save you the Google search: Durant.
The Suns chose a different path this year. They chose youth, energy, hope, and maybe, finally, a core that can grow together. Rest easy, Suns fans. The nightmare is over, and the rebuilding has begun. No, we will not contend next year, but we will be competitive, fun, building toward something, and most importantly... fun to root for again.
The best part? They didn’t just win this trade. They fleeced the Rockets in the return and rebuilt their identity in the process.
The past is gone. The future is bright. Let’s talk about it in the comments
So now we ask you, Suns fans:
Do you think the Suns not only won the trade but also fleeced the Rockets?
Is Maluach the franchise center we’ve waited for and never got in Ayton?
And are you ready to believe in this rebuild?!
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