The Suns Traded the Past for a Future:
Kevin Durant was never going to bring a title to Phoenix. It was an illusion from the beginning. We blew up a team for what we thought was our organization's savior, but the truth is we didn’t need saving. And instead of the remedy, Durant turned out to be a poison pill that triggered a difficult reboot. And before you blame Bradley Beal, you should search who was the one who lobbied for Beal to be brought to Phoenix. I’ll save you the Google search: Durant.
The Suns chose a different path this year. They chose youth, energy, hope, and maybe, finally, a core that can grow together. Rest easy, Suns fans. The nightmare is over, and the rebuilding has begun. No, we will not contend next year, but we will be competitive, fun, building toward something, and most importantly… fun to root for again.
The best part? They didn’t just win this trade. They fleeced the Rockets in the return and rebuilt their identity in the process.
25 comments
Lmao it’s not gonna be that bad
Rockets gave up the guy that KD is essentially replacing (Green) and Brooks who they promptly replaced with DFS (and Jabari and Eason still there)
KD’s poor experience in Phoenix isn’t really on KD as much it’s on terrible front office decisions they made over the past 2 seasons
They needed a scorer and got one of the best scorers ever.
Lol rockets made a good trade.
And lowkey 2023 suns were close to winning if jokic didn’t just pop off like he did. Theyd have creamed the lakers and heat but just ran into jokic early who avged 35/14/10
This is some insane cope
Holy cope
This is some truly peak r/nbacirclejerk material from the writer:
What Did Houston Get? A Warning Label
I’m sorry Houston, we lied. The Phoenix Suns sold you a lemon that they were willing to chew their arm off to get away from, and you gave us a future. You get a 37-year-old in September that will just hoop and score 25 points per game and ruin all that young positive chemistry that you’ve been building. The Rockets didn’t just get Kevin Durant. They inherited the full Kevin Durant Experience™️. That means:
A 37-year-old star who will iso your team to death and turn the ball over
A mercenary who bails at the first sign of trouble.
A “I’m unbothered, just here to hoop” -er who becomes disengaged when things don’t go his way.
A walking frowny face emoji who turns on fans and media the second criticism enters the chat.
A social media sniper with a burner account and a short fuse.
Let’s be honest: when things go wrong — and they will go wrong — Durant will do what he’s done in OKC, Golden State, Brooklyn, and Phoenix. He’ll disengage. He’ll throw shade. And he’ll plan his escape while the team he just destabilized is left to clean up the mess.
The Slim Reaper always strikes again.
People also criticize Jalen Green for choking in his first year in the playoffs. Durant never made it out of the second round in Brooklyn or Phoenix, was bounced in the first round with each, and completely missed the playoffs this year. But yet we are criticizing a kid in his first playoff series appearance for choking? What does that mean Durant, a veteran superstar, did in Brooklyn and Phoenix?
Houston sent Phoenix a generational 18-year-old big, a 23-year-old rising star, a defensive identity-builder, and a first-round level prospect—for a ticking social media time bomb, who has been riding his two championships with the Warriors for almost a decade now and who’s just waiting for the first misstep to activate meltdown mode.
The wild homer take piece.
GPT slop aside, this is some all-time copium lmao.
And I thought Lakers fans were delusional
> The Suns chose a different path this year. They chose youth, energy, hope, and maybe, finally, a core that can grow together.
They traded for Jalen Green man
What stage of grief is this? Denial or bargaining?
PHX literally got Jalen Green LMAO 😂
This is embarrassing
he must’ve missed the part where all jalen needed to be was average in the playoffs to make it past the first round
“Generational 18 year old big”
Calm down Beavis…
Even IF KD ends up being a failure the trade was a must for the Rockets.
Modern NBA contending windows are shorter than ever and the main thing the Rockets were missing was a guy to give the ball to for a bucket in the playoffs. There aren’t a lot of better options in the league than KD even at his age it’s a perfect fit.
Brooks isn’t really relevant to their future. I think we all know who Jalen Green is at this point of his career and frankly that contract isn’t great. Losing the 10th pick might not be ideal but not like it was top 3.
Literally any team would give up that if it takes them from a playoff fraud to a legitimate contender.
Copium, like most drugs isn’t necessarily harmful, especially in small amounts. But large quantities can lead to fatal overdose and result in countless lives being affected, including generational trauma. The first step to recovery is admitting a problem exists. Don’t wait. Get help.
Coping with ChatGPT is crazy
If KD’s attitude has any negative impact on the Rockets, they can let him walk in free agency. They don’t have to re-sign him. And since he will want another major contract on a contender, he’ll need a team to have his bird rights, so it will be a sign and trade next year where Houston can get something of value back.
Houston got off the Jalen Green contract, which is a positive in and of itself.
The Suns fleeced the Rockets ? LMFAO
The same Rockets that have all the Phoenix’s first until 2030 ?
Please excuse this. Its hot out here and people’s brains are getting fried.
I am loving this, after months of months absolutely HATING on Jalen Green and this deal from Houston, it has become the best deal in history.
Looking forward to some epic meltdown in the desert:)
This is a bit much, I am definitely of the camp the media is overhyping Durant and his potential impact at this stage of his career but to say the Suns actually won this trade or didn’t get pennies on the dollar is ludicrous
“You get a 37-year-old in September that will just hoop and score 25 pts per game” Dude, I’m already buying the tickets, you can stop convincing me now
I feel so bad for Book man. Dude had an awful team, got a taste of success, then had it all ripped away from him when he got a bit of hope.
Hope he goes to a new team soon. I don’t want him to get the Dame treatment.
LOL it was actually 26.6 points per game and ONLY 5 players in the entire NBA averaged more… SGA, Jokic, Ant, Tatum, and Jokic. Yeah I’ll take that dude on my team.