Kevin Durant Hints at Suns Big 3 Future: ‘Somebody Has to Go’..
The Phoenix Suns‘ “Big Three” experiment is not working.
Faced with a massive payroll and luxury tax bill, the Suns tried to shake up their roster at the trade deadline amid a disappointing season.
With Bradley Beal unwilling to waive his no-trade clause, it was Kevin Durant, the team’s leading scorer and shot blocker, who was nearly traded.
“I never planned on leaving,” Durant told ESPN’s Malika Andrews. “I didn’t ask for a trade from Phoenix. But obviously, when you pay so much for a team and we’re not playing up to our expectation, somebody has to go. So [there’s] pressure.”
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Ramona Shelburne, a multi-team trade framework that would have seen Durant return to the Golden State Warriors was discussed before he got wind of it and ultimately thumbed it down.
“The three-way talks even expanded to loop in Washington. Those talks included Butler, Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas, two first-round picks (from the Warriors) and two second-round picks (one each from the Heat and Warriors), and pick swaps going to the Suns, sources said. The Warriors would’ve received Durant, while the Heat could’ve received Wiggins, Cleveland’s 2025 first-round pick (via Phoenix), Dennis Schroder and Kyle Anderson,” Windhorst and Shelburne wrote.
Why Kevin Durant Rejected Warriors Trade
Golden State coach Steve Kerr said he didn’t blame Durant for not wanting to return to the Warriors.
“He took so much [expletive] for like, ‘Oh, you’re jumping on the bandwagon.’ And then he’s Finals MVP two years in a row,” Kerr told Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN last week. “It’s like he still gets criticized.”
Durant said it was not the case.
“People talk crazy about me all the time,” Durant told Andrews. “That’s not the reason why I didn’t want to come back, I just didn’t want to get traded midway through the season. It was nothing against my time with the Warriors, or I heard because I don’t like Draymond [Green]. 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.”
What’s Next After Nixed Trade?
The Suns started 8-1, which included a seven-game winning streak. But a calf strain and left ankle sprain to Durant cooled off the Suns’ hot start.
They are 2-11 without Durant this season as they stumbled to 11th place in the Western Conference with a 26-28 record at the All-Star break. It does not get easier for Durant and the Suns to climb out of that hole as they have the toughest remaining schedule, per Tankathon.
“We expect a lot out of ourselves individually, and it just hasn’t materialized the way they wanted to” Durant told Andrews. “It was disappointing to see our fans and people who watch the game want more from us, but we can’t think about that. We gotta think about the day ahead of us and trying to get better and figure out how we’re gonna win the next game.”
