By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
And the plot just thickened.
After putting Kevin Durant blindsided with several trade talks during the last NBA trade deadline, the Phoenix Suns are looking to polish their unfinished business and ship their superstar small forward if they fail to make this season’s playoffs.
The development was announced by ESPN’s senior NBA insider, Shams Charania, on March 3, 2025, confirming that several league sources already told him about the iffy situation that Durant currently is in under the Phoenix management.
Durant admitted that he wasn’t informed about the ongoing negotiation that would’ve sent him to another franchise last trade deadline, and was also unaware of Phoenix’s meeting with his former team, the Golden State Warriors.
A day before the NBA trade deadline, the Suns opened possibilities that would’ve forced Durant out of Phoenix, but their several negotiations stalled and failed to meet a single target.
Durant also said that he doesn’t want to get traded midway through the season, and coming back to Golden State won’t make any sense because he is still determined to help Phoenix get to the playoffs.
“People talk crazy about me all the time. At the end of the day I just didn’t want to move and I wanted to see it through with my team in Phoenix and see what we could do the rest of this season. I’m glad I’m still there,” Durant told ESPN during an interview.
The Suns are currently sitting at the 11th spot of the Western Conference with a 28-33 win-loss record, five wins behind Minnesota who just locked up the eighth seed with 33 wins and 29 losses.
According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick, the Houston Rockets are the top contending franchise to lure Durant to a deal this off-season.
Durant was already on Houston’s wanted list since last year and pulling the trigger to sign him this off-season would boost their chances of making a deep run in the league.
The Rockets are also seeking Devin Booker’s services, but landing these two big stars would need a major overhaul of their roster, especially with how Amen Thompson elevated his game playing at the forward spot.
“We know that the Houston’s of the world have been looking at Devin Booker and KD. So they’re certainly going to have a market and we’ll see what ends up happening with him this summer. But really bad across the board,” said Amick.