The speculation has ended, and the Phoenix Suns have finally pulled the trigger on a seemingly inevitable trade for Kevin Durant. KD is headed to the Houston Rockets, and Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft along with a gaggle of second-round picks are headed back to the desert in return.
From a certain angle, that looks like a solid return for a soon-to-be 37-year-old who didn't figure into the team's long-term plans (and who blew up Phoenix's leverage by listing the teams he'd accept a deal to). A former No. 2 overall pick who took a meaningful step forward last season, plus a top-10 pick in what is universally regarded as a strong draft — Phoenix appears to have checked both of the most important boxes for any team moving on from a star player.
But of course, these trades don't happen in a vacuum, and basketball games aren't won on paper. In reality, this trade boils down to one very simple question for Phoenix. Brooks is simply salary filler here, a player who doesn't fit the Suns' timeline and might get rerouted at some point anyway. The No. 10 pick, while nice, means more to a team looking for supplementary pieces than one looking for its next foundational star. Second-rounders are, well, second-rounders.
How this trade will be remembered comes down to whether Phoenix was right to identify Green as the player it wanted to build around alongside Devin Booker. And unfortunately for Suns fans, it's hard to see the case right now.
Jalen Green is a curious fit at best next to Devin Booker
It's true that Green, after a very frustrating start to his NBA career, made real strides as a player and decision-maker last season. But many of those gains evaporated once the chips were down and the playoffs began: He simply wasn't good enough in Houston's seven-game loss to the Houston Rockets, taking and missing too many bad shots as the Rockets struggled for efficiency in the half court. His passing also continues to lag: Green averaged 3.4 assists to 2.5 turnovers in the regular season.
Green has major kinks to iron out to even approach the offensive fulcrum he was billed as entering the 2021 draft, much less live up to his three-year, $105.3 million contract that runs through 2027-28. And we haven't even gotten to the most important reason why this fit is so puzzling: Green would sure seem to be duplicative of Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, without offering any complementary skills to help Booker shine.
Suns' depth chart:
— Dan Feldman (@DanFeldmanNBA) June 22, 2025
PG:
SG: Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks, Bradley Beal, Jalen Green, Grayson Allen
SF:
PF:
C:
The Suns are now paying their trio of lead guards some 90+ percent of the salary cap moving forward. That ... sure is a choice. Of course, Phoenix made this move thinking beyond next season, and they're clearly hoping that Green will blossom in time to help Booker lead the next contending Suns squads. But the path to get there feels awfully murky, especially considering that Green and Beal don't figure to have much of any trade value right now.
Can even the fully actualized version of Green be the sort of running mate that Booker needs? Will this team ever acquire a functional big man? Phoenix's roster looks much different than it did yesterday, but its biggest questions all remain, and they're paying a pretty big price for the privilege.
Who else could the Suns have potentially landed for Kevin Durant?
It's hard to prove a negative, and we don't know what other deals Phoenix may have passed up in order to accept this one. Would the San Antonio Spurs have parted with Stephon Castle? Were trades to Minnesota and Toronto dead on arrival due to Durant's preferences? Maybe Green really was the best young NBA talent out there.
If that's the case, though, it's fair to wonder whether focusing on more meaningful draft capital would have been the play here. Is Green moving you appreciably toward whatever the next contending core of this team looks like? If so, how? He's given precious little evidence that he can become that player, and even if he makes major strides, he feels very duplicative of Booker and leaves plenty of holes on this roster.