Report: Suns 'Aggressive' in Pursuit to Trade Kevin Durant

The Phoenix Suns have reportedly been ramping up their pursuit to trade away Kevin Durant with one team highlighting the other end of discussions.

According to The Athletic's Kelly Iko, the Suns have been in constant communication with the Houston Rockets since the end of the season about Durant.

Iko wrote Tuesday:

"Phoenix is aggressive in pursuit of a) trading Kevin Durant and b) regaining full control of their draft capital starting with the No. 10 pick in next month’s draft, team sources said.

"Since the conclusion of the season, Houston has fielded several calls from Phoenix, who have since gradually lowered their asking price for Durant, those sources said. There is a price where the Rockets would be interested, but with a fear of breaking up their roster for a 36-year-old coming off injury, doubt remains over a deal materializing."

On paper, the Rockets have always made the most sense for a trade with Durant. They own the draft rights to the Suns' first-round pick in this year's draft (No. 10), as well as Phoenix's 2027 first rounder and swap rights for the Suns' 2029 first-round pick after a trade with the Brooklyn Nets last summer. The Nets originally acquired the draft capital as part of the return when they traded away Durant to the Suns in Feb. 2023.

On top of this, the Rockets have a stash of young talent, some of whom don't get much playing time, as well as big contracts to veterans like Fred VanVleet and Dilllon Brooks they can package in a trade. Houston finished as the No. 2 overall seed in the West this season, but was eliminated in the first round, as its lack of a primary scoring option became very obvious.

Devin Booker has also made sense as a potential target for Houston because of all of these reasons.

Even though Booker and the Suns have repeatedly said Booker wants to remain in Phoenix his entire career, the Rockets have had known interest in him since acquiring the picks, but Iko reaffirmed that Houston's interest in Booker has decreased recently:

"The Rockets’ young talent, draft capital and team success (winning 41 and 52 games over the past two seasons) make them a natural fit for star players who may become available. As mentioned last month, longterm interest in Suns star guard Devin Booker has cooled, team and league sources said.

"Having been a desired target for a while, Houston’s decision to pivot from Booker is the result of a few factors; his lowest-scoring season since 2021, his worst shooting season since 2019, a hefty $100 million price tag, internal belief that Phoenix will extend Booker, lack of desire to gut a rising contender and the continued growth of fourth-year guard Jalen Green."

It has not been a secret that the Suns are probably going to move on from Kevin Durant with ESPN's Brian Windhorst reporting last week that he thinks there's a 98% chance they trade him this offseason after including him in trade discussions before the deadline.

Iko's report not only confirms this, but shows that the Suns are looking to do so as soon as possible before reshaping the rest of the roster following a 36-46 finish to the 2024-25 season.