NBA Trade Idea Involving 4 Players Sends Kevin Durant Back To Warriors

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Ashish Mathur | Last updated May 16, 2025 3:44 PM ET

The Golden State Warriors tried to acquire Kevin Durant from the Phoenix Suns at the February trade deadline. However, a trade didn't happen because Durant made it known behind the scenes that he didn't want to get traded.

Despite having Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, the Suns missed the playoffs this year. They were so bad that they didn't even qualify for the play-in tournament.

After Phoenix fired Mike Budenholzer as head coach, Shams Charania of ESPN reported that Durant and the Suns are expected to work together on a trade this summer. Durant, 36, has one year left on his contract.

A future Hall of Famer, Durant played for the Warriors from 2016 to 2019. He won two championships and two Finals MVPs alongside Steph Curry and Draymond Green while averaging 25.8 points in the regular season and 29.6 points in the postseason.

Since most NBA observers believe the Suns will trade Durant this summer, Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report proposed that the Warriors trade Jonathan Kuminga, Buddy Hield, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski and a 2027 first-round pick to Phoenix for Durant.

This would be a sign-and-trade deal since Kuminga becomes a restricted free agent this offseason.

"Golden State can send multiple first-round picks and/or first-round pick swaps to the Suns, Kuminga on a new contract, some salary filler and one or two other promising younger players (like Brandin Podziemski) for KD," Bailey wrote.

"And Phoenix might have to seriously consider something like that. Durant turns 37 in September, has a pretty robust injury history and couldn't prevent this Suns season from going off the rails.

"There are other teams that can beat the Warriors' offer for him, but at this point, they may not want to. And while the window for contention wouldn't be open long (or maybe all that wide) for a team with 37-year-old Durant, 37-year-old Curry, 36-year-old Jimmy Butler and 35-year-old Draymond, Golden State would have a better chance with that group than it did in 2024-25."

Durant averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists for the Suns this season while shooting 52.7% from the field, 43.0% from 3 and 83.9% from the free-throw line.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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