Panic levels rise in Phoenix as flawed star could become available to Suns via trade

The Phoenix Suns as you currently know them are going to go through some changes ahead of next season, and that cannot come soon enough for a franchise that has fallen behind a worrying amount of rivals in the Western Conference. Right now they are focused on getting a new head coach, but even that is a situation that could yet turn out really badly for them.

Central to those changes is Kevin Durant, who has most likely played his last game in The Valley. There might not be a lot of chatter on his next team right now, but that feels like the calm before what is sure to be a very noisy storm. Once that domino falls there is no telling who else could leave the Suns - but also find themselves calling Phoenix home - between now and next season.

Suns need to stay well away from Julius Randle this summer.

One such player who the Suns should avoid at all costs - and he is going to become available - is Julius Randle of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Yet despite that obvious statement, at this moment a number of scenarios are unfolding that could yet see Randle end up on the Suns next season, in what would surely be a disaster for Devin Booker's hopes of ever contending again.

For starters, Randle is just coming off the best playoff performance of his career. He was a large part of the Timberwolves' ride to the Western Conference Finals - and although the flaws in his game were painfully exposed by the Oklahoma City Thunder - there aren't many players in the league who can survive their defensive stranglehold.

With that in mind there has perhaps never been a better time to have the 30-year-old on your team. He is physical, has some variance to his offensive game and has now shown he can raise his performances in the postseason. Which is exactly what new General Manager Brian Gregory might be thinking in trying to make the Suns better.

There's no doubt the roster of 2024-25 lacked the fight necessary to win, and Randle possesses a ton of that. Owner Mat Ishbia has also shown in trading for Bradley Beal in the past that he'll take wild swings to get better, while he also clearly trusts Gregory to do a great job in his new GM role. That sounds like two key individuals who could talk themselves into having Randle in Phoenix.

Just as important as all of this is the future of Durant, with rumors coming thick and fast that the Timberwolves made a play for his services at the trade deadline. The fact both franchises are in cap hell means that was never going to happen, but already there has been talk that they could go back in for Durant again this summer.

There's at least ways of making that happen - and if Durant wants to team up with a star who looks up to him in Anthony Edwards - the Suns might just grant him that wish. Ishbia has said before how he would work with Durant to find another situation that suited him if that day ever came. It might just have, and it would involve the Suns taking Randle back in the process. That's a terrible, terrible idea.