Rival GM tried to trade for Kevin Durant and Devin Booker at the deadline

The NBA's trade deadline is now in the rearview mirror, and the Phoenix Suns have already gotten to see the two players they added in action for their team. Royce O'Neale has looked like an ideal fit early, while David Roddy saw some minutes in the win over the Detroit Pistons.

A game that was completely overshadowed by the arrest of Pistons' center Isaiah Stewart, after a pre-game altercation with Drew Eubanks of the Suns, resulting in Stewart striking Eubanks in the face. The moment of madness also taking away from former Suns head coach Monty Williams going up against his old team.

With the deadline now having passed, bizarre rumors have started to surface about the final hours of Thursday, when organizations made last ditch efforts to improve for a postseason run. You would have thought that the Golden State Warriors enquiring about LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers would be as outrageous as this would have gotten.

But Philadelphia 76ers General Manager Daryl Morey said "hold my beer" on that one, because he supposedly checked on the availability of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.

In actual fact - as ESPN Insider Adrian Wojnarowski put it - Morey actually enquired on the availability of those two players, plus Bradley Beal. Just a cursory check-in to see that all was going smoothly in The Valley. As Wojnarowski would go on to explain, not that he needed to, those advances were quickly shot down by the Suns;

"These sorts of bold trade calls are historically a common practice for Morey, who also called the Phoenix Suns and asked about a trade for Durant prior to the deadline, sources said. When told no, Morey then asked about the availability of Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, too. Unsurprisingly, those were rebuffed as well, sources said."

- Adrian Wojnarowski

It is unclear what exactly Morey thought he could trade in order to try and acquire one of these three players. James Harden left for Los Angeles earlier in the season, and there's no way the 76ers would part with Joel Embiid or even Tyrese Maxey for any of those players. Not with Maxey yet to sign an extension that in all likelihood will still end up being less than Beal is currently making.

Given that Morey did also ask about LeBron James before calling the Suns, maybe it was just a little too quiet for his liking around the deadline in Philadelphia. With Embiid currently out injured and out of the MVP discussion thanks to new rules introduced this season, putting all his chips into the middle of the table might not even be the smart route to take right now.

For the Suns and owner Mat Ishbia though, there likely isn't a player in the world he would trade for Booker. He is the face of the franchise, recently became the second highest scorer in franchise history, and will go down as the best player to play for the team when all is said and done. He has more value in Phoenix than anywhere else.

The Durant conversation is slightly more interesting, but the Suns are committed to winning with Booker and Durant as their two best players. They gave up a hell of a lot to get the 35-year-old from the Brooklyn Nets, and would likely not get fair value back on a deal for him if Morey or anybody else could convince them to move on from Durant.

This season he is averaging 37 minutes per night and his 28.2 points per game is more than on two of the four occasions he won the scoring title in the past as well. His 44.3 percent from deep is also the eighth best mark in the league this season, proving beyond any doubt that he is one of the best scorers in the history of the NBA.

The question of moving on from Beal would give some fans reason to pause, but that is mostly because of the back and ankle issues that derailed him earlier in the season. That and the fact he is making over $50 million for the next three seasons after the $46 million he is getting this year. Still, his fit so far has looked exactly like the Suns needed it to. No wonder Morey didn't get very far.