The Phoenix Suns spent an estimated $259.5 million last season in salaries and luxury taxes (third-highest performance in the league), finished sixth in the West and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Minnesota. Phoenix’s bill is expected to rise to $447 million this season.
That has led some people outside of Phoenix to wonder how deep owner Mat Ishbia is willing to dig into his pockets, and whether Kevin Durant is getting restless over the lack of flexibility in roster construction due to the second apron? Of course, that led to speculation online about a Durant trade, all of which was backed up by nothing (Durant has two seasons left on his current contract). Suns CEO Josh Bartelstein tried to squash talks about a transfer of Durant in an interview with PHNX Sports.
“I think the most important thing is that you can’t just have conversations when there are problems or things come up, right? Because then it’s not true and authentic. It’s about our caring factor. So I talk to KD all the time about his life, about the Olympics…
“He likes it here. We talk all the time with Rich Kleiman, his (business) partner, about the vision and what we’re building, and everyone’s really happy, and I think we’re going to have a really, really good year. And Kevin is involved in all the discussions about the vision for the team, all the things we do on the court and off the court. So the fact that we’re having all that dialogue is a built-in equity. If you do those things, everything else will fall into place.”
The Suns would only trade Durant if he asked for it, but there are currently no signs of that.
While the Suns made some moves in the offseason — signing Tyus Jones at the minimum price was a steal — their biggest bet in the offseason was that new coach Mike Budenholzer would get more out of a top-heavy Suns roster. Bartelstein is confident that’s the case.
will happen.
“He’s great. I mean, he’s the real deal. We’ve gotten very, very close in three months. It’s crazy that it happened so fast. He’s so detail-oriented. He thinks about the Phoenix Suns all day, every day, from the biggest things, where Kevin gets the ball, to the smallest things, how do we maximize our two-way guys’ days? He’s just always thinking about Suns basketball and he’s a basketball genius. The way he uses players, the success he’s had, the wins – you talk about one of the best coaches in the NBA.”
The Suns will begin the 2024-25 season in Los Angeles – they will be the Clippers’ first opponent in the new Intuit Dome and then stay in town to reunite Paris Olympians Durant, Devin Booker, LeBron James and Anthony Davis in an entertaining opening-week contest.
