1. Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant is still Kevin Durant – and with Booker not available under any circumstances – he remains the Suns’ best trade asset going into this season. He might just have turned 35, and the injury history is well established at this point.
It is also true that his experiment with the Brooklyn Nets was a failure, never making it to a Conference Finals alongside Harden and Kyrie Irving. But any time you can trade for one of the 20 best players of all-time, and we’re being loose with where Durant is on that list, you do it and figure the rest out later. That’s what the Suns did in getting Durant.
If the Suns made him available, there would be a long queue of teams who would enquire about him. He has three years remaining on his deal, and although the money gets up there in Beal territory throughout, three years is not as long as you think in today’s league. In two years, Durant will basically be an expiring contract.
Not that any team trading for Durant would think that way. If this roster isn’t working for the Suns, and they want to take a step back to recoup some picks and young players and go again with Booker and Beal in a couple of years, they would still get a pretty return for Durant. If they think they’re close to winning, they could also swap him for another star. Giannis anybody?