The Phoenix Suns will have a new coach when fall rolls around, and it's more than likely that Kevin Durant will have a new home. According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Suns have narrowed their coaching search to Johnnie Bryant and Jordan Ott, who are both assistants with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Bryant is 39 years old and played in the NBA in the 2000s, while Ott has bounced around NBA coaching staffs for the past half decade. Besides being on the same staff right now in Cleveland, both of these options are _young,_ and would be first-time NBA coaches. A young coach does not always equal a "rebuild" for a team, but it's often an admission that a team isn't quite ready to compete _yet._
That isn't the kind of coach that Kevin Durant should play for in 2025, and a young, first-time coach in Phoenix is another sign that the superstar already has one foot out the door.
For the record, I like this direction for Phoenix — the plan of hiring a veteran coach then firing him after one year wasn't my favorite strategy they were running the past few years. But I like this direction for Phoenix specifically _without_ Durant, who seems to have played his last game in the Valley.
Kevin Durant isn't likely to play for a young coach in 2025
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Durant is in his late 30s, and while he's still an elite NBA player, history says that he will, at some point, decline. He doesn't have time for a rebuild, reset, or whatever you want to call what's happening in Phoenix right now.
The Durant rumors aren't just speculative, either. ESPN's Brian Windhorst said he believes the odds of Durant being dealt are at "[98 percent](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25200161-windhorst-says-hes-98-sure-kevin-durant-will-be-traded-suns-amid-nba-rumors)," which is a wildly specific number — and a _very high one_. The breadcrumbs have been coming all offseason, and the Suns hiring of a young, unproven coach is the latest piece of the loaf.