Phoenix Suns All-NBA power forward Kevin Durant has been known to ditch winning situations. After a series of deep playoff runs alongside future Hall of Fame point guard (and, later, fellow league MVP) Russell Westbrook, the 14-time All-Star departed the Oklahoma City Thunder in favor of the Golden State Warriors as a free agent.
Still unsatisfied despite a run to three straight NBA Finals, including two titles, Durant ditched the Dubs as a free agent in 2019 to link up with All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving on the Brooklyn Nets. He subsequently demanded a 2022-23 midseason trade to the Suns, where he suited up alongside All-NBA shooting guard Devin Booker and former All-Star Chris Paul.
That Suns team was knocked out of the playoffs by the eventual champion Denver Nuggets, in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs. Phoenix almost totally reconfigured its roster around Durant and Booker in the summer of 2023, bringing in former three-time Washington Wizards All-Star shooting guard Bradley Beal, ex-Milwaukee Bucks small forward Grayson Allen, and former Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic to round out the club’s starting five.
Phoenix went a middling 49-33 in 2023-24, finishing as the West’s No. 6 seed, and got swept out of the first round of the 2024 playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Durant appeared in 75 regular season contests during his first full season with the Suns last year. The 35-year-old logged averages of 27.1 points on a .523/.413/.856 slash line, 6.6 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 0.9 steals a night. He finished ninth in MVP voting, was named an All-Star, and made an All-NBA Second Team. He wasn’t the problem.
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So, will the 6-foot-11 vet try to force yet another trade?
Suns and Mercury CEO Josh Bartelstein spoke with Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports about a wide variety of topics, most pertinently some recent trade speculation surrounding their most famous player.
As Bourguet notes, the former Texas product is at present eligible for a one-season contract extension. Durant is signed through the 2025-26 season when he will earn $54.7 million as a 37-year-old.
“…I think everyone’s head’s in the right place,” Bartelstein opined. “He loves it here. We talk to [agent] Rich Kleiman, who’s his partner, all the time about the vision and what we’re building, and everyone’s really happy, and I think we’re gonna have a really really good year. And Kevin’s part of all the discussions about the vision for the team, all the stuff we’re doing on the court, off the court. So the fact that we have all that dialogue, there’s equity built into it. If you do those things, everything else will take care of itself.”
This summer, the two-time Finals MVP won a record-setting fourth Olympic gold medal for Team USA and became the all-time most prolific scorer in the history of men’s Olympic basketball. Booker, who started every game for the Americans, claimed his second gold medal during the club’s 98-87 victory over Team France.
“Kevin Durant, like, you pinch yourself, Kevin Durant plays for the Phoenix Suns, the all-time leading USA scorer and rebounder,” Bartelstein reflected. “And to see him come back after missing the first part of it, again, you kind of pinch yourself. Those two guys are on the Phoenix Suns.”
Read More: Kevin Durant Creates Insane Team USA History With Win Over France
