With the Phoenix Suns reportedly preparing to trade Kevin Durant this offseason, the front office is expected to prioritize a return package that emphasizes financial and roster-building flexibility rather than just traditional assets like draft picks or young players.
The rationale is clear: the Suns are burdened by the restrictive effects of the NBA’s second apron under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
By shedding Durant’s massive salary, Phoenix would be positioned to regain access to the team-building tools currently unavailable to them, such as using the full mid-level exception or participating more actively in sign-and-trade scenarios.
This approach aims to create a more adaptable roster around franchise cornerstone Devin Booker.
Despite their staggering financial commitment – combining for over $400 million in player salary and luxury tax – the Suns were eliminated from playoff contention even before the regular season concluded, underscoring the inefficiency and imbalance in their current team structure.
The strategy Phoenix may look to adopt is not without precedent. It mirrors the route taken by the Los Angeles Clippers last off-season when they made the controversial decision to let Paul George go without a trade, even turning down packages that could have brought back draft capital.
The move wasn’t about getting immediate value in return – it was about gaining cap flexibility and ducking under the second apron, a strategy that allowed the Clippers to reshape their roster with more maneuverability.
That decision ultimately contributed to their resurgence, as they returned to playoff relevance in the Western Conference.
As ESPN’s Brian Windhorst explained on First Take:
“When you look at this Kevin Durant trade, they’re going to have to seriously consider trading Kevin Durant for flexibility. 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…'”
But in today’s cap environment, Windhorst emphasized, those expectations must be reimagined:
“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.”
Windhorst drew a direct comparison to the Clippers’ handling of George, a move some saw as a non-decision but which was, in fact, strategic:
“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.”
That context is crucial when imagining what a Durant trade might look like. Instead of the usual haul of picks and prospects, the Suns might have to settle for expiring contracts or salary dumps, with the goal being financial liberation rather than traditional “value.”
As Windhorst starkly concluded:
“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.”
Adding another layer of complexity, Durant – a future Hall of Famer still performing at a high level – may expect to exert influence over his next destination, particularly with a contract extension looming.
But under the current CBA, his massive salary and age may position him differently than in past superstar trades.
“Kevin Durant might get used as an expiring contract,” Windhorst noted. “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.”
In essence, the Durant trade could become a symbol of the new NBA financial reality, where even transcendent talents can be viewed more through the lens of cap implications than pure on-court impact.
As Windhorst put it, this will be a “referendum on teams that are operating in the reality of 2025.”
Suns Could Prioritize 'Flexibility' Away From 2nd Apron In Kevin Durant Trade https://t.co/uCKoI1pTVN
— RealGM (@RealGM) April 11, 2025
