Kevin Durant, Suns
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Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns are expected to work on a trade this offseason.
With the Phoenix Suns looking to hire a youthful coach, a move that signals a major reset, Kevin Durant no longer fits their timeline.
Zach Buckley of the Bleacher Report predicts that Durant will be traded back to the Golden State Warriors after they missed out on him at the trade deadline.
Durant nixed the idea of reuniting with the Warriors at the trade deadline after the Suns entertained trade offers without his knowledge. That will no longer be the case this summer as the Suns are moving away from the Big 3 model. They will work with Durant and his representation in potential trade scenarios, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
“As great as Durant is, he’ll be 37 before next season tips and doesn’t have the cleanest injury history. It’ll take a specific kind of suitor to want what he brings, afford him in a trade and also believe it will have enough left over to contend for a title with him already next season.
“The Warriors potentially check all of those boxes—assuming, of course, the Suns would be interested in their draft picks, pick swaps, young players (like Moses Moody or Brandin Podziemski) and a Jonathan Kuminga sign-and-trade. That’s a big assumption for now, but our crystal ball thinks that’s the best Phoenix can do in a Durant deal and also believes the 15-time All-Star will come around to the realization that he won’t find a better hoops home than his previous digs,” Buckley wrote.
Joining Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler gives Durant a bigger chance to compete for a title than getting stuck in Phoenix or joining a young, ascending team like the Houston Rockets who are not yet ready to contend.
Kevin Durant Leaves Door Open to Golden State Return
After the trade deadline in February, Durant told his former Warriors teammate Draymond Green on his podcast show with Baron Davis that he would be open to joining them if they still want to trade for him in the offseason.
“We just play the season out and if that’s the decision you want to make in the offseason then you figure it out,” Durant said on the “Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis” that dropped on Feb. 26. “It’s just such a big change to make and I’ve been through it before I was like damn that’s not really it. If I can stop it then why not?”
So Durant stopped the trade before the Warriors would have mortgaged their future for him.
“A player like me costs a lot,” Durant explained. “Going into your team is gonna be a whole new era of your team when I get to your team and that’s a lot of work through the season like I’m still of value, especially with my contract and just my production that me just getting up and moving in the middle of season, it’s going to be a big blow to any team I’m going.”
With the Warriors getting Butler instead of Durant at the trade deadline, they kept their powder dry.
Golden State has up to four first-round picks to trade after the NBA draft and has a slew of young players and veterans to potentially package for Durant.
Suns Coaching Search Moves on to 2nd Round of Interviews
According to NBA insider Chris Haynes, the eight candidates who made it to the second round of interviews are Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Sean Sweeney, Suns assistant coach David Fizdale, New Orleans Pelicans associate head coach James Borrego, Cleveland Cavaliers associate head coach Johnnie Bryant and assistant Jordan Ott, Brooklyn Nets assistant coach Steve Hetzel, Minnesota Timberwolves lead assistant Micah Nori and Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coach Dave Bliss.
Only two of the candidates have previous head coaching experience: Fizdale, 50, and Borrego, 47.
“This is a young batch of [coaching candidates],” Haynes said.
At the helm of this extensive coaching search is the Suns’ new general manager Brian Gregory, who has two decades of coaching experience in the NBA but is relatively new as a league executive.