The Phoenix Suns’ big move at the 2023 trade deadline for Kevin Durant quickly initiated its ongoing predicament of being outside of title contention despite being exorbitantly expensive and also without control of their future draft picks. The 22-23 Suns may have been two years removed from a trip to The Finals and one season removed from winning 64 games, but their team built around Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges, Deandre Ayton, Chris Paul, Cam Johnson and Jae Crowder was beginning to regress. Paul was looking older, Ayton had stalled in his development, and Crowder had remained away from the team throughout that season.
The Suns didn’t believe they were sacrificing the present in addition to their future in trading Bridges to the Brooklyn Nets for Durant.
“I’m going to explain to you that from the Suns’ point of view, they didn’t break up a Finals team,” said Tim MacMahon on Wednesday’s Hoop Collective Podcast. “They didn’t break up a 64-win team. They made a move with this team that was just a few games over .500 when Mat Ishbia took over control of that franchise more than midway through that season. They felt like the previous edition of those Suns had peaked.”