Just when you thought the 2025 NBA trade deadline couldn’t get any wilder, another superstar has seemingly entered the fray. According to Jake Fischer, the Phoenix Suns are believed to be listening to pitches from various teams about Kevin Durant. The Suns are signaling that they do not plan to move Durant, but the fact that they are at least open to hearing other teams out is a major shift from all of the prior reporting suggesting that Durant was untouchable. According to Fischer, Durant is aware of these discussions.
So what is behind Phoenix’s apparent openness to dealing Durant, potentially ahead of Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline? Their 25-23 record is part of it, of course. The Suns are not built to contend for a championship now, and with San Antonio taking a major step forward by acquiring De’Aaron Fox, the playoff race out West just got tougher. Phoenix’s pursuit of Jimmy Butler was meant to fix that, but it has become clear of late that nobody is willing to take on Bradley Beal to make that happen. Without Beal, the only legal way for the Suns to land Butler would be to include either Devin Booker or Durant in a trade for matching salary purposes.
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In theory, the Suns could use Durant as a way to get Butler and supplement the rest of their roster. Durant is the more valuable trade chip of the two, so they could potentially orchestrate a three-team trade in which Butler enters, Durant exits, and the Suns use the surplus value Durant creates to force someone to take on Jusuf Nurkic and send them back a useful player, or perhaps picks that could be directed elsewhere in a deal. For now, no deal is imminent, but the Suns need to explore every possibility with the deadline looming.
So, if Durant is possibly on the table, where could he go? One team interested in the former MVP is his former employer, the Golden State Warriors. Fischer notes that Golden State is interested in not only Durant, but potentially pairing him and LeBron James. That would be nearly impossible from a cap perspective, but even landing Durant on his own would be a game-changer. Fischer notes that the Suns have a level of interest in Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, who will be a restricted free agent after the season. ESPN’s Shams Charania said on the Pat McAfee show that the Warriors “are legitimately calling about every All-Star” in their quest to put a winner around Stephen Curry.
But almost any win-now team would surely have interest in landing Durant. He fits basically anywhere as an elite shooter that still defends at a high level and doesn’t monopolize his offense. Even at 36, Durant is still a worthy All-Star starter. Luka Doncic may be the best player traded at this deadline, but Durant is one of the few active players in the NBA that has accomplished more. Buckle up, folks. The 2025 trade deadline is getting wilder by the minute.
