With the Phoenix Suns expected to trade Kevin Durant this offseason, they are expected to consider a trade package in return that offers them flexibility to get out from under the second apron. In doing so, the Suns will have more mechanisms available to them to improve their roster around Devin Booker.
The Suns have already been eliminated from playoff contention heading into the final weekend of the regular season despite a combined payroll and luxury tax of over $400 million.
The model they will consider using was also used by the Los Angeles Clippers last offseason when they decided not only to not re-sign Paul George, but also decline potential trade packages that would have allowed them to recoup assets. The Clippers prioritized dipping below the second apron and they were able to be active on the free agency market as a result and are now in the Western Conference playoff picture.
“When you look at this Kevin Durant trade, they’re going to have to seriously consider trading Kevin Durant for flexibility,” said Brian Windhorst on First Take on Thursday. “This is a new concept in the NBA. And I could understand you hear me say that and you go ‘What are you talking about? What are you talking about trade for flexibility? I want four first round draft picks. I want three great young players. I want a guy who’s going to come in and be on All-NBA…
“No, I’m telling you, they’re going to probably have to seriously consider trading Kevin Durant to get out of jail. Meaning, get out of the second apron. Get their ability to maneuver and fix their roster. Because the reason this is so problematic is because they don’t have the ability to mess with their roster.
“And I will tell you, who has been one of the most successful teams of 2024-25? The answer is the LA Clippers. And the LA Clippers traded Paul George for flexibility. You will say to me, ‘They didn’t even trade Paul George. They let Paul George walk away. There was no trade involved there.’
“Yes, there was. They could have traded Paul George to the Warriors. They could have signed and traded him somewhere else and they said ‘We can’t be in the second apron anymore. The only way that we can fix our team is by getting flexibility back.’
“And so they told Paul George, ‘Thank you and good luck to you.’ And they rebuilt their roster and retrofitted their roster around the stars that they still had with better fitting pieces using the flexibility.
“And so I’m telling you, we’re going to be talking about this a lot over the next couple of months. When you go to your Trade Machine, you’re gonna have to think about Kevin Durant trades differently because how big of a disaster this is.”
Durant may expect to have some level of control over which team he is traded to with an extension considered an inevitability, but it may end up more complicated than that.
“Kevin Durant might get used as an expiring contract,” said Windhorst. “What I mean by that is he’s making $55 million next year, a team may take him understanding that he’s a rental. Or a team might take him in an effort to dump salary somewhere. And that’s not a commentary on Kevin Durant as a player. That’s not a commentary on what he can be on a team. That’s a commentary on what it means to trade a player who makes $55 million, who wants a contract extension in an apron era. And so this Durant trade is going to be a referendum on teams that are operating in the reality of 2025.”