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Shams Charania Drops Major Kevin Durant Trade Update on Wednesday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Ashish Mathur | Last updated Jun 4, 2025 5:50 PM ET

According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Phoenix Suns are hiring Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Jordan Ott as their new head coach.

The Suns fired Mike Budenholzer after one season. Budenholzer replaced Frank Vogel, who was also fired after one season.

Phoenix missed the playoffs and play-in tournament this year despite having Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.

Charania is reporting that Booker was involved in the Suns' coaching search process during the final stages and stamped Ott as his top choice.

Durant, though, wasn't involved. That's because the Suns are expected to work together with the superstar and his business partner, Boardroom CEO Rich Kleiman, on a trade.

"The Suns will work with All-Star forward Kevin Durant and his business partner, Boardroom CEO Rich Kleiman, on his next landing spot," Charania wrote. "He is expected to have a robust market of approximately four to six seriously interested teams this offseason, sources said."

A future Hall of Famer, Durant has one year remaining on his contract. The small forward will make $54.7 million next season.

Durant turns 37 in September. He 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 beyond the arc and 83.9% from the free-throw line.

Durant has career averages of 27.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.4 assists with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, Brooklyn Nets and Suns.

KD won two championships and two Finals MVPs with the Warriors but hasn’t gotten back to the NBA Finals since leaving Golden State for Brooklyn in 2019.

The Suns acquired Durant from the Nets in 2023. They have won only one postseason series since then.

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

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