Phoenix Suns now told they must ‘start digging’ like the OKC Thunder after Kevin Durant trade

Tim Bontemps wants the Phoenix Suns to follow the OKC Thunder route

On the same day that Durant was traded to the Rockets, his former team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, won their first-ever NBA Championship.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a historic campaign leading the Thunder to the 2025 title. But let’s not forget that the Thunder landed Gilgeous-Alexander in a trade with the LA Clippers.

Keeping that in mind, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps urged the Suns to follow a similar route and build a championship-caliber roster in the coming years.

“We’re sitting here talking about the Thunder in the finals. The trade that set up everything that’s happening right now with Oklahoma City was the Paul George trade to the Clippers.

“After the Paul George trade, what did the Thunder do? They took that trade and kept making more trades,” Bontemps said on The Hoop Collective podcast.

He added: “After a couple of weeks, they had made like 15 trades. They had a whole pile of stuff, and that started the path back to where they are now.

“Now, obviously, they started with a gazillion more things to trade than the Suns are getting out of this deal.”

Paul George was younger than KD when the Thunder traded him. Even then, it took a brilliant plan from OKC GM Sam Presti to turn around his team. But do the Suns even have a shot at attempting that?

Tim Bontemps says ‘reroute’ Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks to build around Devin Booker

Leaving aside Bradley Beal’s situation, the Suns can realistically move any player on the roster not named Devin Booker.

Keeping that in mind, Bontemps laid down a path for the Suns in their potential quest to follow the Thunder’s blueprint to an NBA Championship.

“I’d be trying to reroute Dillon Brooks for stuff. I’d be trying to reroute Jalen Green for stuff. I’d be trying that process to have some stuff to build around Devin Booker going forward,” the ESPN analyst continued.

“Grayson Allen is on a bad contract. I don’t think they’re getting anything for him. Royce O’Neale is a guy you could maybe turn into stuff. This is what the Suns have to start doing. They have to start digging,” he concluded.

With the 2025 NBA Finals now over, it will be interesting to see if the Suns act upon this advice heading into the offseason.