Ludicrous Devin Booker trade proposal proves Suns are again being disrespected

Of all the teams in the NBA heading into the 2024-25 season, the Phoenix Suns are one of the few who it is not easy to make up fake trades for. This is because they're in the second apron - which severely restricts what kind of deals they can make - and also as a result of their roster makeup.

Kevin Durant is 36-years-old and although he's been known to want out of situations in the past, another forced exit would be a hammer blow to a legacy that has already been criticised because of his movement and how he won his pair of championships. Bradley Beal has a no-trade clause, it's as simple as that.

While Devin Booker is the face of the franchise indefinitely.

Yet despite Booker being the player that Suns fans love the most - he could ultimately end up being the best in franchise history - that hasn't stopped Michael Pina of The Ringer (an excellent writer who we're big fans of by the way) try and somehow get Booker out of The Valley. His destination? The up-and-coming, exciting team that are the Houston Rockets. Huh?

As Pina himself puts it in his piece on the Rockets and how they're the most fascinating trade team in the league this season -

"If I were the Rockets, I’d be less inclined to fork over my most valuable assets for a 36-year-old Kevin Durant, who would seemingly also be available in this scenario. Booker, on the other hand, can shine as the stable scoring machine with playoff chops and Finals experience who makes sense in pretty much any lineup or system."

Make no mistake, Pina is right in everything he has said about Booker here and why the Rockets should obviously target him over Durant in this made up scenario. But as is so often the case when these ideas are being dreamt up, doesn't the franchise who is about to lose the star player get any say in this at all?

The Rockets have already effectively bet on the short-term future of the Suns, when they loaded up on some of their picks in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets this summer. At the time it was speculated that they could be making a play for Durant - and while that died down quickly while both himself and Booker were at the Olympics - those picks are still in their possession.

They alone would not be able to convince the Suns to part with Booker - it is unclear if anything outside of Victor Wembanyama would at this point - although the Rockets do have all manner of interesting young players to add to a deal. The key reason this trade idea is bogus though, is because of what it would mean for this era of Suns basketball. Namely, that it is over.

Mat Ishbia didn't buy the organization, plus the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA, get an All-Star game to The Valley and bring back a G League outfit just to blow it up and start from scratch, and that's what trading Booker would mean. Moving on from him means waving the white flag and shipping out Durant, while Beal would also get to decide where he went next.

The problem with that obviously being that Beal's trade value is low right now - although he's looked nice in preseason - while Durant at this age doesn't command the same haul as he did when the Suns gave up all they had to acquire him. Durant would have no interest in sticking around for a re-build of any kind, while Beal just ensures this group isn't as bad as it could be.

What Ishbia is always likely to do if this version of the team doesn't work out is retool around Booker, and see if they can go on a run. As already mentioned he's not even 28 yet - and if after a couple more years of trying next to Durant the Suns still haven't gotten close - then this is a conversation worth revisiting.

By that point the Rockets will have either gone all in on another disgruntled star, or else will be building around a couple of their own youngsters who could have reached All-Star status. Perhaps both, which would be a worry for the Suns and the rest of the Western Conference for a very different reason. There's simply no way this is ever happening.