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The Phoenix Suns have already begun trying to erase any remnants of the disastrous 2024-25 season by firing head coach Mike Budenholzer. It's expected to be the first of many moves the team makes this summer, including potentially trading franchise cornerstone Kevin Durant.
Recently, famed NBA agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports stopped by ESPN's The Pat McAfee Show with a word of advice for teams who may be interested in acquiring Durant's services.
“Whichever team wants to add a [Kevin Durant] at this stage in his career, has to be looking to win a championship,” said Paul, per NBA on ESPN on X, formerly Twitter.
Winning a championship is what the Suns thought they would be doing when they added Durant to go alongside Chris Paul and Devin Booker at the 2023 trade deadline. The team's flameout in the second round of the postseason that year was largely attributed to a lack of time to build chemistry, and the team doubled down the following offseason by trading Paul and acquiring Bradley Beal.
However, Phoenix was swept in the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves last year and now missed out on the playoffs altogether in 2025, signaling that major changes are in order.
What teams should trade for KD?
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While Durant is still putting up monster stat lines on elite efficiency most nights, he isn't able to impact winning quite like he was during his days with the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder. Still, that likely won't stop him from having a large market of suitors this summer if the Suns were to look to move him.
If a team like the Timberwolves flames out in this year's postseason, adding Durant could make sense to give Anthony Edwards some much-needed help on the perimeter. The Dallas Mavericks could also go star hunting as they look to maximize however much healthy play they can wring out of Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving.
Out East, the Miami Heat always fancy themselves a threat to acquire big names on the trade market, even if it rarely–if ever–comes to fruition.
In any case, the Suns have some major decisions to make over the next few months.
