Kevin Durant’s future with the Phoenix Suns is fairly murky in the eyes of many after the team looked into trading him earlier this month. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, however, thinks things are pretty clear already.
In an appearance on ESPN’s “NBA Today” Wednesday, Windhorst predicted that Durant will be traded this summer. He added that Durant is well aware of that reality and is cooperating with the Suns with that knowledge.
“They’re going to trade him and he knows that,” Windhorst said. “There’s been a couple opportunities where he could have criticized them for trying to trade him. He has not done that. He has been very professional about this and I expect that to continue throughout the rest of the regular season. He’s going to try to win every game he’s out there.
“Then in the offseason, he sort of gave himself a little ad there. He’s like, ‘whatever team gets me, you know I’m going to make a difference, I’m still in my prime.’ I think he’s handled this very appropriately.”
The Suns actively floated Durant’s name in trade talks, and reportedly even had a deal in place that Durant nixed. There were some other claims in the aftermath of the failed move claiming that Durant was unhappy with the Suns and might look to leave in the summer anyway.
Ultimately, it sounds like both teams are ready to end their partnership after little more than two years. Durant has said publicly that he plans on seeing out his contract with the Suns, but did not really close the door on a potential offseason trade.
The marriage between Durant and the Suns simply has not yielded much success. They lost in the Western Conference semifinals after acquiring him in 2023, and did not make it out of the first round last year. This season, they are just 27-31 and are in real danger of missing the playoffs entirely.
Durant is putting up his typical strong numbers, with 26.9 points per game on the season. However, injuries have limited him to 45 games, and Phoenix is 2-11 when he has been out of the lineup this year.
The Suns made a lot of ill-fated moves that were meant to bolster the roster around Durant, and have not been able to get out from under them. That has left them with little flexibility to get more pieces around Durant and Devin Booker. As a result, the whole project appears increasingly likely to be blown up this summer, with very little to show for it.
