The Phoenix Suns entered the season with high expectations following the hiring of championship-winning coach Mike Budenholzer. However, despite boasting Kevin Durant-one of the league's greatest scorers-and All-Star guard Devin Booker, Phoenix has struggled to find consistency.
Both stars have been putting up impressive individual numbers: Durant is averaging 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists, while Booker's stats sit at 25.5 point, 4.1 rebounds, 7.1 assists this season. But the team's performance hasn't matched their talent, as the Suns (35-41) currently sit 11th in the Western Conference, 1.5 games behind the Kings with only six games left in the regular season.
Their playoff hopes took another hit when Durant suffered an ankle injury in Sunday's loss to the Houston Rockets. According to ESPN's Shams Charania, the 15-time All-Star is expected to miss at least a week, making Phoenix's postseason push even more difficult.
With the Suns' season unraveling, trade rumors have begun to surface-most notably linking Durant to the Boston Celtics, as reported by Fox Sports' Nick Wright.
"Two totally unrelated people, both of whom have reputations for knowing things that other people don't know, have said to me watch out for Durant in Boston"
- Nick Wright
pic.twitter.com/BbZjqpnvOS
— CelticsUnite (@CelticsUnite18) March 25, 2025
While Durant has yet to address the rumors, Booker has made his stance clear-he wants his superstar teammate to stay in Phoenix.
"Hell yeah, I want to play alongside him," Booker told Logan Murdock of The Ringer. "The team's been in a tough situation. That's the NBA today… I think [Kevin Durant] understands the business too, that when things aren't going the right way, people are going to explore options. I don't know how serious it actually was, but we moved past it. You see his morale, you see how he feels about the city."
"How does a team with two Hall of Fame guys, two Olympians, two guys in their prime, how do they not go further?"
went to phoenix to asses the suns' season of doom https://t.co/0UwrdZACe3
— Logan Murdock (@loganmmurdock) April 1, 2025
Booker, who was drafted 13th overall by the Suns in 2015, has become one of the franchise's all-time greats, leading Phoenix to the 2021 NBA Finals, where they fell to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games.
Whether the Suns will honor their franchise cornerstone's desire to keep Durant remains to be seen. However, with the team struggling, significant changes may be on the horizon heading into next season.
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This story was originally published April 2, 2025 at 1:30 PM.