Suns owner breaks silence on Kevin Durant trade rumors

Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia killed Kevin Durant trade rumors before they took on a life of their own ahead of the 2024 NBA Draft.

“NBA Draft night is the best. Everyone is talking about the drama and intrigue, some are right and some are just plain wrong. My turn. Phoenix loves Kevin Durant and Kevin Durant loves Phoenix, and we’re competing for a championship this year because we have the team to do it. Gotta love draft night! Go Suns,” Ishbia posted on Xformerly Twitter, Wednesday June 26.

Ishbia’s comment was a reaction to an ESPN report that the Houston Rockets were targeting Durant after reaching a draft-centric deal with the Brooklyn Nets, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Houston returned Brooklyn’s 2025 and 2026 first-round picks for Phoenix’s 2025 and 2027 picks and a chance to receive the 2029 first-round pick in a trade if it is the more favorable of the first from Dallas, Houston and Phoenix, according to Wojnarowski.

“What are the implications of the Rockets getting the Suns’ picks?”. Houston wants to make a trade for Kevin Durant and it becomes a lot easier if they can return to the Nets the Suns’ picks they gave up in the Durant trade. The Suns said they are keeping Durant for now, but that could change next season. But now Houston has the choices to rebuild the Suns,” Wojnarowski tweeted.

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The Suns still all-in on their Big 3

The Suns gave up Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks (2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029) and a 2028 pick trade to the Nets for Durant and TJ Warren midway through the 2022-23 season.

Then they added Bradley Beal last offseason in another major trade that put them in the second apron.

Both deals limited the Suns’ flexibility, and while the early return wasn’t what they expected — a first-round elimination in the Western Conference playoffs — it didn’t deter them.

Ishbia and the Suns are still all-in, firing coach Frank Vogel just one season into his five-year, $31 million contract. They replaced Vogel with another NBA champion coach, Mike Budenholzer, for a fee of more than $50 million over five years, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

They hope Budenholzer can maximize the trio of Durant, Beal and Devin Booker despite the lack of depth surrounding them.

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The Suns want to maximize Kevin Durant

After Durant’s well-publicized disconnect with the Suns coaching staff last season, Phoenix general manager James Jones said they wanted to become the first team to maximize Durant’s talent.

“I tell you, it’s an ongoing priority for us to continue to figure out how to maximize Kevin Durant,” Jones said during his May 1 exit interview at the Footprint Center. “No one has done it yet. I believe we will be the first team to do it because if we can maximize it, we can maximize our entire roster. We’re a better team, but that’s not a problem. I think Kevin had a phenomenal season this year offensively.

“I think he had some of the best periods of his career this year,” Jones continued. “So it wasn’t something offensive. It wasn’t a matter of use or usage. It was just a matter of figuring out when, where and how to do it together. We just couldn’t get on the same page.

Durant averaged 27.1 points on 52/41/86 shooting spread over 75 games in his first full season with the Suns. This marks the most games the 35-year-old superstar has played since returning from an Achilles injury in 2019.