The list of teams being listed as potential trade suitors for Kevin Durant is long and varied, but one team continues to be left off the list. The Sacramento Kings could be the perfect trade partner for the Phoenix Suns to move on from their Hall-of-Fame forward.
Everyone is talking about Kevin Durant and where he could ultimately be traded. It's a rather unique situation that has been fomented by the winds of the NBA offseason: Durant is definitely being traded, he is definitely being traded in the next two weeks, and the list of potential destinations is double digits. That's a wild reality.
One aspect of the trade market that the Suns have to navigate is how much to take Durant's own desires into account in executing a trade, and how much to pursue the ideal trade package for themselves. Do they have the gumption to send Durant somewhere he doesn't want to go?
If so, they shouldn't be limiting themselves as they canvas the league for potential suitors. And in the process, they could uncover a hidden gem of a trade partner who steps in and sends back the best package for Kevin Durant.
The Suns should call up the Kings
The Sacramento Kings are desperate to change their fate. Two years ago they broke their two-decade run of missing the playoffs, but in the two seasons since they have fallen to the Play-In Tournament, missed the playoffs yet again, fired their successful head coach and traded away multiple key pieces of that playoff team, including franchise star De'Aaron Fox.
This is a franchise unwilling to tear it all down and rebuild; that door holds trauma for the fans and embarrassment for owner Vivek Ranadive. That is why they took back Zach LaVine and his onerous contract when they traded Fox at the Trade Deadline in February. The Kings want to compete -- but their roster is not exactly capable of doing that.
Desperate times call for overpays in a trade; that's what happened to the Suns when they originally traded for Durant, as brand-new owner Matt Ishbia wanted to make a splash and agreed to meet all of the Brooklyn Nets' demands at the 2023 Trade Deadline. Just over two years later, the Suns should try to capitalize on another desperate team to try and recoup some of what they spent to bring Durant in.
The Kings could be the ideal trade suitor. They can offer a package built around a good player, be that DeMar DeRozan or Domantas Sabonis. They could also build out a three-team trade to send DeRozan or Sabonis elsewhere and another player to Phoenix. With that matching salary could come multiple draft picks to restock the Suns' ability to go back out on the trade market, or even young players such as Keegan Murray and Devin Carter.
If the Kings do come in with the best offer, are the Suns prepared to send Durant to Sacramento? It seems highly unlikely the Kings would be near the top of his preferred destinations; they are not a well-run team, are not a playoff contender, and are not from either his home in the DMV or where he went to college in Texas. The only connection is that they are close to the Bay Area, which he left on sour terms despite winning two rings.
Sacramento likely would offer Durant the maximum contract extension he can sign, and otherwise acquiesce to his wishes. The question becomes whether that is enough for the Suns to think they aren't launching Durant's remaining career off into the sun -- although honestly, anything would be better than what has happened to him since arriving in Phoenix.