The trade deadline has come and past, and the Phoenix Suns weren't able to significantly upgrade their roster after having pursued star Jimmy Butler. With them stuck with their current core, they will have to see if they can make the playoffs with the roster that they have.
That won't be easy with him having the toughest schedule in the NBA over the remainder of the season and them currently 11th in the Western conference. If they do fail to make the playoffs, then that could lead to wholesale change for the Suns, who have traded all but one of the remaining first-round picks to build their current team.
However, they have failed to live up to expectations. As a result, the Suns are expected to trade Kevin Durant this summer after toying with the idea of trading him at the deadline. ESPN's Brian Windhorst confirmed as much:
"He's probably going to get traded this summer...He knows it. The Suns know it. The rest of the league knows it. They're going to enjoy him while they have him."
The Suns moving on from Durant is the only reasonable outcome for Phoenix, given they are out of virtually all of their picks, and Durant could command a significant return. The most likely trade partner would be the Houston Rockets, who own several of Phoenix's first-round picks, making them an attractive trade partner for the Suns.
After all, Phoenix would likely need to hit the reset button on their franchise and try to contend again.
NBA rumors: The Phoenix Suns would be wise to trade Kevin Durant while they still can.
With Durant aging and under contract through the end of next season, the Suns should act quickly to ensure that they get top value for arguably their best player. Trading him to the Rockets for some combination of Dillon Brooks, Steven Adams, Jabari Smith, and two or three first-round picks would be a reasonable return for the 36-year-old Durant.
Even though he is closer to 40 than he is to 30, he is still one of the premier scorers in the NBA, even recently crossing the 30,000-point threshold. That is something that only eight players have ever done, and he was the fastest player to have done so since Michael Jordan, even faster than Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.
Ultimately, the Suns are in between a rock and a hard place. They have mortgaged their franchise to build a contender but likely won't make the playoffs this season. That could lead to major change this summer, and Kevin Durant could be the first domino to fall in a potential Suns reset.