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The Suns could look very different come next season.
With Phoenix on the outside looking in on the postseason — and even if they do make the playoffs — the Suns are looking to shake things up in the offseason which would include moving on from superstar Kevin Durant, ESPN reported.
“The stakes are high. Unless there’s a significant run here into the playoffs for the Phoenix Suns, league sources believe that there will be real changes in Phoenix coming to the Suns. And from a roster standpoint, that likely starts with Kevin Durant,” ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania said during “NBA Countdown.”
Durant’s name had come up in trade rumors ahead of the NBA trade deadline and he nixed a deal that would have sent him back to the Warriors.
The two-time NBA Finals MVP was taken off guard by his name appearing in trade rumors, but ESPN’s new reporting indicated that any deal involving Durant would be done with input from the player.
Reporting for ESPN NBA Countdown on the Suns, Kevin Durant and what’s at stake: pic.twitter.com/69UeeowSOP— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 2, 2025
“This offseason, from my understanding, what it would look like is the Suns and Durant would work together on any potential trade to a contender in a trade scenario,” Charania said. “I would expect four to six contending teams with some serious involvement in Durant. He’s still playing at a really high level. He’s extension-eligible in the offseason too and as we know with the Jimmy Butler situation, the extension plays a big factor.
“But everything with Durant hangs in the balance of not only the Suns and how they compete in the playoffs or not compete in the playoffs, but other teams — which teams get eliminated early, what teams could come about.”
Durant has played in Phoenix since 2023 when the Nets traded him in a blockbuster deal that ended the Big 3 era in Brooklyn.
The Suns have not made it beyond the conference semifinals in the first two seasons that Durant had been in Phoenix.
