The Phoenix Suns are going to trade Kevin Durant in the coming weeks, that much has already been established and accepted throughout the league. Just what they are going to get back for his services remains to be seen though - and in trying to get back what they gave up to acquire him in the first place according to some rumors - the franchise might just be downright delusional.
Jake Fischer took to his column on The Stein Line's substack Sunday, to talk all things he has heard regarding the upcoming Durant trade. One interesting piece of information in there was the fact that - rather than get as many players that can help Devin Booker right now as possible - the Suns are also open to getting considerable draft compensation back for Durant instead.
That is an excellent approach for a number of key reasons.
The first - and perhaps most important - is that it opens the door for the Houston Rockets to get involved in this process once again. Right now they not only have the Suns' lottery pick in the upcoming NBA Draft - the 10th selection - but they have two future Suns' firsts as well. Give some of that back - plus make the salaries work - and you're in business.
Even if the Rockets don't want to mortgage their undoubtedly bright future on a soon to be 37-year-old, giving up picks that aren't even their own anyway wouldn't be doing that. They might even be able to convince the Suns to take on a divisive scorer such as Jalen Green in the process as well. More teams interested in Durant drives up the price as well, which is another plus for Phoenix.
In any trade with the Suns I am not giving them multiple draft picks, Jalen and Jabari.
— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) June 13, 2025
If the Suns ask for that I would tell them good luck and then move on. Durant is still a great player but that is just too much considering the Suns are the desperate team not the Rockets. pic.twitter.com/6gEAYMIkOp
Then there is the prospect of new head coach Jordan Ott having just taken over in The Valley. Giving a first year head coach some rookies to work with moving forward would seem to be a good idea. He has a vision on how he wants the Suns to play on both ends of the court - and while veterans can help this roster win games - the youngsters that can grow with Booker need to be found as well.
Which leads us to the most underrated aspect of all this, who says rookie players can't help right away anyway? The Suns famously didn't draft Tyrese Haliburton when they could have - and while he obviously wasn't the player as a rookie he is now - he sure would have been useful to have coming off the bench for 10 minutes in an NBA Finals series they eventually lost.
Sticking with the Indiana Pacers and Bennedict Mathurin is in only his third season there, yet he has already helped swing a finals game for his team. If you knew the Suns could draft a couple of players and in three years hope they could help a 31-year-old Booker win big - hopefully alongside another star - wouldn't you want to see that? A promising development.