REPORTS: Phoenix Suns Have NO LEVERAGE & Kevin Durant Might Stay

REPORTS: Phoenix Suns Have NO LEVERAGE & Kevin Durant Might Stay

hey guys don’t forget we can also just keep Kevin Durant and move forward into the Jordan A era with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant stephen uh no pleasantries let’s jump right into it let’s start with what Dwayne Rankin of the A Republic was reporting earlier today that the Phoenix Suns due to Kevin Durant’s age and of course the known desire that he wants to play elsewhere that they do not have leverage in any trade negotiations and they might have to lower their asking price of course this reporting goes on at the same time that plenty of other deals and packages are being leaked from other sources that we’ll get to in a second but your initial response or reaction to Dwayne’s reporting earlier today um yeah it’s it’s a little tough to hear but at the same time I think while they might not have the leverage to the extent that some people expected or assumed that they might they still have the piece that other teams are wanting that naturally has leverage in and of itself because you’re not tied to because he doesn’t have a no trade clause sending him specifically where he might prefer to go nor to the teams that might have a package that they feel is best for him so you still have a little bit just maybe not as much as people assumed you would yeah let’s do what we always do which is dissect why would this come out now Dwayne obviously a very trusted Sun source and and I I do have full faith in in Dwayne i’m not saying that he’s putting anything out there that that is unreliable but I I do think that this this reads as something coming from a non-son side of things right because there’s other reporting that we’ve gotten and and we can get into it now in that from Sham Shirani on Pat McAfee earlier today said the Rockets and the Heat are more realistic as of right now for Kevin Durant and from Sham’s understanding Minnesota isn’t out of it they are still very much engaged and active in Kevin Durant conversation he also adds that there are more motivated teams than the Spurs and in a Suns Miami deal he mentions Wiggins Rosier and some of three young guys being involved it does feel like there are at least a couple of teams Stephen who are interested in KD i guess my thought is is that interest at a certain level is it capped at this point where the Suns are continuing to try to get more and more and more and even the interested teams aren’t willing to go above a certain threshold of value for what will be a 37year-old superstar no I think it’s just more the media continuing to be leveraged for the negotiations that are taking place which was a lot of what we talked about yesterday on the main pod and the trending pot that we did i don’t think that there’s only three teams that are included he might have three preferences but I don’t think he would scoff at if Minnesota was a team the Suns decided to deal him to i don’t think he would be mad at that considering who he would be playing with what they’re likely going to offer and ultimately what roster they’re able to field around him and Anthony Edwards just as an example of the teams that are considering him right now I just don’t think it’s going to be as exaggerated as it maybe seems at this moment in time that his value is so low correct yeah that part is that part is insane for someone that would have been all NBA again in their age 37 season thing right is I do think that like loss in all of this is people always are just talking about the age that that Kevin Durant is and the value that he’s lost but not about actual encore production right and I’m not saying that that means you’re going to get the the trade package that you gave up for Kevin Durant we’ve been consistently staying here you’re not getting five first five seconds Cam and Jay for for KD but you’re also not going to trade him for scraps and there’s even reporting from Brian Windhorse who was on uh ESPN Cleveland radio earlier today and said he wouldn’t rule out the Suns considering keeping Kevin Durant if they’re not able to get a trade they like and having to make a decision like do we not trade him at all and that’s something that we’ve unpacked where you know there is a way to to make a winning team around Book and KD now with Beal in the mix you don’t love that but even this feels like it could be a leak from a sun’s side of things because you don’t want these teams to feel like they have you in a corner right you don’t want Minnesota to think “Hey you’re the only team who’s actually interested in getting him.” You don’t want Houston and San Antonio and Miami to think we can keep our main young pieces a Castle a two pick a wear a 10 pick a Jabari whatever it is you want them to also be afraid of the other option which is nah man you you just don’t get this guy like we’ll just keep him and maybe try to sign him to an extension and trade him at the trade deadline or trade him at the deadline without an extension as a threemon mercenary instead of a a one season mercenary what do you think the odds are that at the end of this all Kevin Durant still wearing purple and orange i’ve maintained all season or all offseason long that it’s not a guarantee i would probably say it’s around 10% that he’s still in Phoenix because if the complications are true which I feel like is the most common denominator amongst all of the reporting is that it’s not as streamlined as it maybe seemed it would be even a couple of weeks ago even a couple of days ago yeah because of that I think the Suns are just kind of reminding via Brian Winhurst Winhurst that hey guys don’t forget we can also just keep Kevin Durant and move forward into the Jordan era with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant roll the dice there with that see if we can work out a contract extension with him and then that opens up some other things and see what you do with Bill and go forward from there like don’t forget like they’re they’re just letting people know we’re not pigeonhold to only trading him don’t forget that right well especially because it does kind of feel like they put themselves in a position to where it feels like they pitch themselves when they tried to trade him at the deadline and now you’ve had I mean what is now months and months I mean we’re talking all the way back to February and it’s the way in which it happened if they went to him and said “Hey we don’t want to but because of the constraints of the aprons and the new CBA and the offers that people offers that people are bringing we’re not going to say we’re going to trade you but we’re just going to have an open ear to these things.” Now imagine how different that light would be from leverage from the perspective of Kevin Durant and obviously the rest of the team in terms of roster building and the ambiguity that just simply wouldn’t exist because of that had you gone about your business that way self-inflicted again do you think that this big swell of reporting whether it’s from Dwayne or Windhorse or Shams or The Athletic who reported last night that the Spurs are Kevin Rant’s number one preferred destination do you think that plays into a Kevin Rant trade happening soon or does it kind of feel like this is going to continue to drag on and possibly bleed into what could be next week well I’ve always felt it would go into draft day potentially draft pick that would be next Wednesday the 25th if not the day or two leading into that week which will obviously be early early that week so no it doesn’t shift in terms of the urgency of it i just kind of always anticipated draft week being something that likely takes place once the finals are over which Oklahoma City looks like they’re about to handle their business there and Hallebert News also aged that as well that’s tough on their end but I felt like it’s going to take on a forefront of everything draft related because of the nature of picks being involved and teams wanted to have control of that pick rather than taking a player that they maybe didn’t value as much yeah well and then that might also be an argument though just as a counterpoint to get this done earlier so that you know who you’re scouting and what to target over the next week because it’s a lot different for the Suns to scout at 29 than it is to scout at 10 10 or 19 or 14 or more unlikely to but yeah probably not too but you never Oh I mean Kurt Goldsberry reporting or just saying on a podcast i don’t know if it’s technically reporting uh that the Suns are asking for the number two pick in Stefan Castle in trade talks set around Kevin or Ant you know and or Yeah you you maybe and Huh yeah maybe and right imagine that that’s what happens with all this i mean honestly you got to in negotiations you start outlandish and they have to talk you down you don’t just come in and say “No I don’t want the number two or Stefan Castle.” You have that yeah well I want I want everything i want everything right who went into all you can eat buffet and said “I’m just getting vegetables instead of filling the plate with everything.” Exactly like that’s that’s what negotiation is about where else you getting all you can eat buffet jokes uh about Kevin Ranch trade room and no Max we did not spoil anything so we did a great job say a single free ad Max we’ve got live shows at 3 p.m on PHNX Suns Monday through Friday we’re going to be doing breaking news pods for Kevin Rant whenever this goes down so many of you have been watching these trending pods on YouTube listening on audio if you’re here on YouTube hit that like button hit that subscribe button so you know when the next one comes out and when we go live Monday through Friday at 3 if you’re listening on audio five star reviews go a long way and if you’ve been listening and watching this whole time which so many of you have you know this by now but I’m going to say it anyway breaking news pod whatever Kevin Rant gets traded right here on this channel we will be the first to react to it and have a community come together and react to a new era of Suns basketball whatever that might bring until we get there you can follow along with everything get the latest trade updates and everything possible at phnx_s that’s on Twitter that is also on Instagram you can follow us at Stephen PG3 on Twitter you can follow me at Riky we’ll be back with so much more trending mini pods and beyond very soon so don’t go anywhere [Applause] [Music]

The Phoenix Suns are in the midst of trying to trade Kevin Durant, and the NBA world is drowning in reports from all sides. Erik and Stephen dive into the latest from Duane Rankin, Shams Charania and more as the Miami Heat, Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves reportedly lead the pack ahead of teams like the San Antonio Spurs to land KD. Does Phoenix have any leverage? PHNX Suns dives into it on another trending mini-pod!

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