Phoenix Suns Tried to Engineer Kevin Durant-Darius Garland Deal Before Taking Rockets’ Offer

Kevin Durant was the subject of a bidding war by quite a few NBA teams. While detractors on NBA Twitter are busy revising his skill level and how his career’s played out, Durant was sought after by a long line of suitors. One of these teams were reportedly the Cleveland Cavaliers. After two straight seasons of not advancing past the second round, owner Dan Gilbert was looking to shake things up with a big trade.

Kevin Durant was initially reported to prefer the San Antonio Spurs as his trade destination. However, the Houston Rockets had always held the trump cards that the Phoenix Suns wanted in trade compensation. In spite of holding 4 of the Suns’ future first round picks, the team had to only give up the 2025 pick. As for the rest of the deal, it was filled out by sending Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and five other draft picks.

This wasn’t necessarily the best trade deal that the Suns could have gotten. According to the latest reports, the Suns looked to recover from the loss of Kevin Durant by aiming for another All-Star. Darius Garland has been a steady playmaker who can set the offense at a level similar to Chris Paul from 2020-23. The Cleveland Cavaliers’ 2029 first round pick is owned by Mat Ishbia and the Suns, who tried using it.

According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the Suns’ pursuit of Garland went thus:

The Suns, from what I’m told, reached out and had interest in Garland. It was not the Cavs who wanted to trade Garland. The Cavs said the only way they would ever consider this would be if the Suns sent Kevin Durant plus other assets. And the Suns didn’t hang up the phone. I’ll just point out that the Suns own the Cavs 2029 first round pick because they got it from the Jazz last year. And getting back your own picks in the distant future is somewhat attractive.