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The buzz surrounding a Kevin Durant trade is only getting louder with the 2025 NBA trade deadline just a day away. ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel reports that the Golden State Warriors are going all out for a Durant reunion, and Jake Fischer writes at The Stein Line that there's a “rising belief” a KD trade really could happen. Both reports suggest a possible trade that could see Durant returning to the Warriors and disgruntled Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler going to the Phoenix Suns like he so desperately wants.
But why exactly would the Suns want to do this?
Fischer says nobody around the NBA is quite sure: “Why would the Suns want Butler if they no longer have Durant on the roster? No one asked by The Stein Line has been able to furnish a good answer to that question, but rumbles persist that a scenario that transports Butler from South Beach to the desert — with Durant moving back to the Bay Area — is indeed in play.”
The Suns have been unable to find a taker for Bradley Beal, who has a no-trade clause that complicates the situation. With Beal apparently not going anywhere, the only way to get Butler to Phoenix is with a Durant trade. But, again, why would the Suns do this and where exactly would that get them?
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While Durant and Butler are both still very good when healthy, they're expensive, aging stars who are no longer at the peak of their powers. Trading out one for the other just feels like spinning wheels, and then turning around and paying Butler the max contract extension he craves without Durant there seems like a recipe for disaster.
A Suns-Warriors trade instead?
If anything, shouldn't Phoenix just work with Golden State on a trade? The Suns could turn Durant's contract into smaller pieces and also get more assets out of it to help retool around Devin Booker, including potentially Jonathan Kuminga and picks. There are rumors that Suns owner Mat Ishbia wants fellow Michigan State Spartan alum Draymond Green, though the Warriors would certainly prefer to trade Andrew Wiggins.
Either way, trading Durant just to acquire and pay Butler big money seems like the wrong play, but all bets are off after the bombshell Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade. It does seem as if there's real momentum toward something happening, and the clock is ticking as these franchises discuss these monumental changes.
