Part of the fun of being a fan of the NBA is coming up with all kind of outrageous mock trades during the offseason, before generally being underwhelmed by the summer moves that your favorite team do manage to pull off. The Phoenix Suns are no exception - and being in the second apron - coming up with fun trades that are still actually possible is an even more difficult exercise than normal.
That doesn't mean fans don't try though - and given that Kevin Durant is most likely leaving Phoenix this summer anyway - it makes sense that he is currently being put into all kinds of mock trades. These tend to include the franchises that he has been linked to going back to the trade deadline, including the Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves and even San Antonio Spurs.
Crazy mock four-team Durant mega trade sees Suns land Austin Reaves.
Then there are the brave souls out there who try something so outrageous, that you can't help but laud them for their efforts. Think the 2012 Dwight Howard trade that took four teams to get over the line, and then kick it up a notch. That's exactly what Tim Garrison of Canis Hoopus tried to do in getting Durant to one of the frontrunners for his services right now in Minnesota.
Feast your eyes on that bad boy. It's a lot to take in. It's... a little underwhelming if you're the Suns? It also somehow pairs Rudy Gobert and Andrew Wiggins in Los Angeles with the Lakkers, while Julius Randle is dumped back into the Eastern Conference with the Miami Heat. A Heat Culture project if ever there was one, guy would probably make a couple of All-Star teams over there.
The most intriguing part of all of this for the Suns - and no it is not Duncan Robinson - is the idea of getting an All-Star in waiting in Austin Reaves to pair with Devin Booker. Can you imagine what having a guy like Reaves who can create his own shot - while still only being 27-years-old - would do for Booker on a nightly basis? He'd be everything Bradley Beal was supposed to be and more.
Being serious for a minute here - despite the madness that this mock trade actually is - and Reaves is realistically one of the best possible players the Suns could hope to get back in any potential Durant deal this summer. He's nearly a full decade younger than Durant, and his ascension in this league does not look like it is finished yet.
The other players in the deal would also give the Suns more shooting, and you could be sure the roster moves wouldn't be finished yet either. Ultimately this is several bridges too far for most of the teams mentioned in the mock trade, and yet...
It is actually a deal that to some degree suits everybody, and even the Lakers would surely welcome the defensive tandem of Gobert and Wiggins to make up for the lack of defending from LeBron James and Luka Doncic. This isn't even as crazy as the mock trades involving Durant are going to get, and we are here for all of it. The 2024-25 season was awful, let's have some fun in the offseason.