The Phoenix Suns have turned the 2023 NBA trade deadline on its head with a blockbuster Kevin Durant trade. Alongside Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton, Durant is back in the Western Conference to help the Suns get back into championship contention. His tenure with the Brooklyn Nets ends with a bang as he joins a team he has long had an eye for.
Durant's interest has always been with the Suns and teaming up with Booker, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, even though he never formally submitted them as a preferred destination this past summer when he requested a trade.
“Durant never handed Brooklyn’s front office a list of preferred destinations last summer, sources told Yahoo Sports, but Nets staffers always knew,” writes Fischer. “Durant had told confidants of his interest in Phoenix, his admiration of Booker and the All-Star scorer’s evolving game, and that intel certainly made its way to Brooklyn officials as well as rival front offices — just as they’d gotten wind of James Harden’s growing desire to flee for Philadelphia.”
This time around, Kevin Durant did make it known to the Nets that the Suns are at the top of his destination wish list, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Phoenix traded a haul to land him. Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, Cam Johnson, four first-round draft picks and a pick swap will make their way to Brooklyn while KD and T.J. Warren head to the desert. New owner Mat Ishbia was barely ushered in before the Suns uprooted a significant chunk of their roster but the move has the chance to pay off significantly.
A tandem of Booker and Durant will be extremely tough to stop and can bring even more potency to an offense that also features a gifted playmaker and tough interior presence. After dealing with the messes left by Kyrie Irving, Durant will pursue a title in a wide-open West.
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