Phoenix Suns Price Going DOWN On Kevin Durant? Plus Knicks Enter the Coaching Search Chat

Phoenix Suns Price Going DOWN On Kevin Durant? Plus Knicks Enter the Coaching Search Chat

Today on Locked on Phoenix Suns, somebody out there is saying that the price is going down for Kevin Durant. Is that a good thing? Should we be scared? And what do they actually want? Next. You are Locked On Suns, your daily Phoenix Suns podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. Welcome back in to Locked on Suns. I’m Brendan Clean, a staff writer at Offlining and Credentialed Suns Media member. Thank you for making Locked on Suns first listen here on this Wednesday. Don’t forget Locked On Suns free and available on all platforms including YouTube. Click that follower subscribe button. Do what thousands of other Suns fans have already done. Become an everyday and get locked on to the Phoenix Suns right here each and every day. Two different sides of the KD trade conversation as it marches toward draft night. Plus, could another opening at the head coach position in the NBA hurt the Suns? Joining me to break it down as always from the Wild West Valley, my fellow Sunscredential media member, how we feeling, Ben Garcia. Uh, I’m feeling exhausted from every Kevin Durant conversation. I saw a report today. I think it was uh uh I forgot Amo Hoops or whoever it is. I just started there a lot trying to say the person’s name, but I think they put out a report today was like the Hawks could potentially be interested in Kevin Durant. I’m like, listen, man, everyone can be interested. Push that price up, but ultimately maybe maybe everyone’s jumping in because the price is going down. I just don’t understand. Or maybe, as KD has said to us countless times, people know that if his name is in a tweet or an article or a video or a podcast, tends to do pretty well. I think that’s a lot of it as well. It’s a good point. It’s a good point. Let’s talk about Mr. Durant and a more reputable report that came out about him today, which was from The Athletic, Kelly Iiko, who covers none other than the Houston Rockets and has done so for a long time. He had an interesting chunk in his article basically saying to the effect, Ben, that the Suns has gone down over the course of the off season. Right. So, I’ll get it exactly. He said that regaining full control of their draft capital is important. Talk about that as we go. Starting with this year’s number 10 pick. And since the conclusion of the season, Houston has fielded several calls from Phoenix, who have since gradually lowered their asking price for Durant. There is a price where the Rockets would be interested, but with a fear of breaking up their roster for a 36-year-old coming off injury. That sounds silly. The dude sprained his ankle. Doubt remains over a deal materializing. So my thought Yeah, the the injury thing is funny. Whatever. But my thoughts on the price going down is it’s not a shock. That’s how negotiations work, right? If you are, you know, at a like a SWAT meet, you walk up, you want like a piece of pottery or some random freaking blanket that got sewn or like a hot dog. You say, “I’ll take it for this.” And then the person selling it goes, “Well, no. I mean, you got to give me 150 bucks for that.” And you go, “Come on, that’s worth like 50 bucks max.” And that’s how this goes. So, I don’t know why that would be a shock. Now, if we heard the Suns are now willing to give up Durant without receiving a draft pick or, you know, like what we saw, there was a report going around about Zion’s value today that like the Pelicans might just basically be at the point of dumping him because he’s gotten accused of heinous things and is never healthy and all that stuff. Well, then I would be ready to be in panic mode. But the idea that the price has gone down, to me, that’s just the nature of how negotiations go, no matter NBA trades or anything. Yeah. Um, I had a few thoughts with this. First off, the Rockets not wanting to break up their young core. Okay, man. Then keep getting bounced in the first round of the playoffs. Like, that’s the first thing I want to get out of my get off my mind. It’s like, and then I’d be curious. Well, they’re they’ve been in the playoffs one year. What do you mean keep? Well, they were the second seed. you should beat the seven seed in the first round of the playoffs. I mean, I don’t think that’s a hot take at all to say, but moving on from that, I think it’s more uh um I’d be curious to know how high they’re off, what they were trying to get before. Like, you would text me, you’re like, they’re asking for the the moon and the stars. I’m like, okay, well, how realistically can you ask those things and GMs just don’t start hanging up the phone on you? I mean, we’ve we’ve seen these stories before where like GMs just get annoyed by Phoenix. Like, how far down has it fallen? And I know gradually is a subjective term, but I’d be curious to know how much it is. And so I guess I would be more worried like you are if they’re like, “Okay, no draft picks.” But just from the reports that we’re hearing, I’m just so confused. Sometimes the market’s up, sometimes the market’s down. I just I feel like you and I are pretty close to what we think Kevin Durant is going to go for, and I don’t think that has changed. I still think it’s a young player, maybe two, and a pick. And I think it’s always been that. And so when I first saw it, I was like, is it lower? Is it lower than that? Because at that point, man, when do you just start talking about running it back with Katie? But that was my reaction to it. How low do you No, I think your first instinct is right. I mean, they’re what we chatter about on this podcast doesn’t set the market. So lower than our thing, they don’t know what our thing is, right? So, you just got to keep in with what they would realistically be asking for. And it is interesting because we haven’t heard anything concrete. We have not heard one package that’s been out there, right? Like you go back to 2022 when he first asked out of Brooklyn and immediately there was like drama in Boston because of the Jaylen Brown will they won’t they on him and then it was with Toronto that Scotty Barnes was off off limits back then because he was coming off of a rookie season where he was a rookie of the year I think he won it right so it was like he can’t come you know he can’t come back so the Raptors are probably out and it’s going to be you know will eighton or bridges is win it uh win it. Will they go in or will they not? And it’s going to come down to that for the Suns side. And then obviously he went back to Brooklyn. But this year it’s none of that. And maybe the Suns have just been moving along with their head coaching search and the conversations have been relatively surface level so far. But I guess I just have a hard time thinking anything about the value for sure until we hear anything about the value for sure, which we haven’t had. Yeah. There. Well, I would want I think that just comes with time, right? In two weeks when the finals is over. I think that’s when we’ll start to get our first trade package being centered around Kevin Durant and whatever team because that’s when more the the obviously the NBA playoffs will come to a close. That’s when more things probably start to ramp up. I would just ask you, so you would say that this is just probably negotiating talks, probably leaked by the Rockets continuously trying to be like, “No, you’re not going to get Jabari Smith and Een and a first round pick. We’re just going to get Een and a first round pick and then and Brooks, a salary cap filler, whatever that looks like. It’s just negotiating talks because that at that point it’s like, okay, it’s just business as usual. This is what the team’s been doing for the last couple of weeks where everything is negotiating, everything’s leaking and trying to get leverage and trying to manipulate the public story or get, you know, pressure or get, you know, if the fan base can get have its expectations set, then that helps you in the f whatever. It’s all that right now. I mean, anything we’re hearing is fairly surface level and and maybe fake. Yeah. But the only thing we’ve heard in terms of actual negotiating, no names, it feels like the Rockets are the team that continuously pops up in these in these trade because they have the Suns pick. Well, exactly. Do you think that makes them the favorites for Katie then? Like, do you think that changes? Cuz I haven’t heard anything in terms of like, well, they might be called the favorites. Okay. They might be the team the Suns most want to deal with. That’s a good way to put it. It’s a good way to put But the favorites for KD is going to be where KD wants to go. That’s going to be the team that’s the favorite and that’s what we we have not heard that yet either. Maybe he won’t do that. Maybe he won’t leak that publicly and put that kind of pressure on the Suns. But that would be the favorite. Otherwise, the favorite is the team with the best package. Yeah, but which could be Houston too if because of those picks. But it may well show what other things available. Well, I guess that shows what the Suns continue to prioritize then. We saw today as well the 10 pick. The Suns are trying to get that pick back. I would just be curious to know at this point if it means gradually has fallen. Is that take a player out of the equation? Does that take a Smith? Is it just now the 10th pick and again salary cap fillers and E? Because if that’s the case, man, it just continues like when do when do you start applying pressure to the to the Rockets? The issue is like we only see the pressure being applied to the Suns. Exactly. leak that they have an offer that includes whatever the Vel the 12th pick Sohan and whatever that’s not I no I would think if you’re trying to really be be manipulative you go bigger you say we have an offer on the table for an all-star level young player and two picks or something you know what I mean you it probably would be vague because you don’t want to disrespect the team by throwing their package out there even if it’s not real yeah exactly But something like that, the Sun, you know, Sham Shirania says on ESPN’s airwaves someday in the next two weeks, like the Suns are confident that they can get back two blue chip players and a and a and a nice package of picks and then it’s like come beat that, right? So, I think you’re right. I think that will happen. But as far as what they’re prioritizing, I think that is would an interesting topic as well. We heard today that they’re pursuing a big man. We’ve heard the 10th pick, like you just brought up from that report at the Athletic. What will the Sun’s biggest priorities be? What will they go toward the most? What do they want back the most? We’ll break it down next. First, today’s show brought to you by BetterHelp. Let’s talk about something that doesn’t get talked about enough. That’s men’s mental health. There’s this pressure for all of us to always keep it together, to perform, provide, never show weakness. But the truth is, real strength comes from opening up and taking care of your mental well-being. Every year, six million men in the US experience depression, and many of those go undiagnosed. But talking to someone, whether that be a friend, a loved one, or best of all, a therapist, can make a huge difference. Therapy isn’t just for crisis moments, or emergencies, or huge traumatic things going on. It can just be about being the best version of yourself, getting through the day, or maybe just talking it out. As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. So, talk it out with BetterHelp. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com/lockdonba. That’s betterhelph.comlockonba. All right, Ben. So to refresh again on the report from Kelly Iiko at the Athletic once again he stated that the regaining full control of the Suns draft capital starting with the number 10 pick is a priority. It’s something that the Suns are aggressive in their pursuit of. I always love uh insider language as everybody knows here. And then we had a report uh from Matt Moore, fellow lockdown host over in Denver, who said that the Suns have indicated to teams that a center is at a premium for them in any KD talks. He might stick around. Well, one can disregard that. I don’t think that’s happening. But their bigger interest is solving the center position, which has been a disaster since moving on from Mton. Now, we covered this within the past couple weeks. We’ve known that the Suns need a center, want a center, and that the center position is still a pretty uncertain spot to say the least on their roster, but those are two different things. They might not be able to get both, Ben. So, when you kind of look at all the stuff we know the Suns need, all of what the teams that might go after KD could potentially give up, and the bigger priorities of resetting this roster, what do you expect will matter the most to the Suns? What will matter the most to the Suns I think is going to be being competitive and going and getting that center that it doesn’t have to be an old guy. Like it could be a a 30 year like a 28 to 30 year old dude. Maybe it’s a cat like maybe they value cat that’s not an old guy. Um, that’s what I think will matter to them because I think they’re going to be really focused, especially with Devin Booker being in the coaching search uh, final five interviews that he is in this process with them and Devin Booker doesn’t want to be part of a rebuild. So, I think their interest is going to be getting someone that fits Devin Booker’s timeline a little bit better. And maybe it’s not a elite level center. probably not going to be, but maybe it’s a cat, maybe it’s a Go Bear, maybe it’s someone like that that they could pair with Booker to keep them competitive over the next uh uh couple of seasons. Now, what they should do, sorry, continue. Go for it. The perfect thing would be The perfect thing would be for the center to be the big salary, get a cheap young player on top of that and some picks, right? Like if you could just craft it now, no team can really do that, right? Because you know so expensive. Yeah. But then you sort of can’t add the young players because one don’t really have any and two you get too high with the salary. Go maybe I guess you could split the difference. It’s a kind of an element of the Minnesota package we hadn’t really discussed. But they also don’t really have like legit, you know, are they going to give you pro? Yeah, that would be it would have to be Dillingham, but they haven’t even seen what they got in that dude. They’re not going to trade him now. So, yeah, there’s not really a package that checks all those boxes, which I think is what’s interesting. But I think you’re right to say that competitiveness overall, regardless of all of this, is probably the best thing. And that’s why you and I like have come back to a lot of packages that sort of do both where it is a a center who can also who can maybe be good enough to start now but probably not as good as Towns or Goar are right now but also be the type of player who could develop into something even better as the next great Suns team hopefully comes into play like an Isaiah Stewart or a Kel Wear or you know maybe there’s others throughout Lively for sure. So yeah, that that would be I guess the next best thing. Well, I would ask you then too because you and I have talked about this at Nauseium. What should they do? Because if I’m answering that question, I think it’s very clear. They should be prioritizing draft capital over just getting a Towns or like it depends. If you can get a lively that’s a young guy who’s has potential aware, but if it’s a Towns or a Go Bear, like you you can only get to the first round of the playoffs so many times before you’re like, “Okay, I’m done doing this.” And plan for the future of being a potential NBA championship contender. I would go with go with the option that gives you a bunch of swings at the bat to choose from anything. When your pick is up, you could pick a guard, you could pick a center, you could pick a small forward, and go from there. That’s where I would go. I like the diversity and the chance to be able to homegrown your own player who makes no money. But I would ask you like what do you think is more important, the picks or a a win now center? I’ll just leave it at that. I think I mean obviously it depends who, right? But I I think in a vacuum probably a youngish center I think is probably more important to them as long as he’s youngish. Like again like Goar doesn’t make sense. That’s why we’ve overlooked him. He’s just he’s already like on the down slide probably of his career and you could probably say that about others. And then there’s guys like Daniel Gaffford who we’ve thrown out maybe if the Mavs got interested. Well, he’s he’s just a a role player, you know, like that’s not really he makes him better, but how much, you know, maybe instead of being a black hole, the center positions merely a weakness. Okay. Like that’s not really great. So, you know what I mean? I think though the pick side of it is interesting because to me I’m not like so Gambo has been saying for a little while now on his show that and on Twitter maybe too that he expects the Suns to make a deal before draft night. Now there’s like apron ramifications of that which also matter here but I don’t really care about the Suns getting a pick this year. I guess I don’t understand the hurry for that. I don’t I don’t know why it needs to be. I mean, if it’s their own number 10 from Houston, I get it. But beyond that, like I’m fine if it’s a pick next year and a young player. I don’t need to get picks this season because if I’m getting young players back in the trade, well then there’s my there’s my developmental guys anyway. They don’t have to be drafted this year. So that that part is tripped me up a little bit why they would be prioritizing that so much. It’s a good draft. It’s a good draft. I mean you like we know very little right about next year’s draft. This year is see like last year’s draft right I’d rather have a a pick in this year’s draft than I would have last year’s draft. Last year’s draft had some good players. The all rookie teams ended up being pretty good but it’s also like it was a weaker draft. if I have a better chance of getting a star in this draft, like I’d want this one. It’s why like when you say the 2030 draft, I don’t know what seventh grader is going to come out and be a phenom, but five years from now, if I have the Pacers picks and the Pacers are terrible at that point potentially, you’re like, “Good thing I traded for it then, which is why, you know, in in your sense, what makes them so uh uh such a hot commodity later on down the road.” So, like maybe the Suns value this draft more than they do next year’s draft, which we know a little bit about, but maybe they’re like, “Yeah, not a lot of stars.” We know normally the draft that has a bunch of really high-end talent, the next year is not as good and they’re I mean, they’re they’re under the gun with Book to a degree and we know that, right? So, it’s like Exactly. Exactly. you know, having some dude on a minimum like, you know, whatever ex player come in here and eat minutes. Cavon Looney comes in versus you you get the number 20 overall pick this year in a trade and then you get a rookie center Maxim Reno for instance and he’s like pretty promising. Then Book can look at that and say, “All right, I get it.” versus well fingers crossed we make the right call next here on this random pick we got from yeah you know sa San Antonio in a trade so maybe it’s a little bit of that too and that could be part of why Gambo seems to think that they’re going to do it before draft night rather than you know on July 4th or something. Well, I think you do have to know like to support Gambo’s claim like you got to put something in front of Booker before July 1st. Like throw out the vision. I’m not saying Booker would get traded, but if they end up getting nothing for KD, maybe that changed the way how he feels. Maybe under the gun a little bit is because Booger’s like, get this done. Well, and for the extension too, even if it’s not trade related, right? So, I think the last thing we should mention is is the money, right? The the fact that the Suns are, you know, if they cut Cody Martin who has a non-G guaranteed deal and Vasil meets each who is a team option, which are effectively the same thing. They get under the the second apron because the second apron has gone up. Those two guys make 16 million. They would have five million of wiggle room under the second apron just by doing that. But you start to get closer. If you can cut money in a Durant trade, you get a little closer to if you know, you’re only $7 million away at that point from being under the first apron. Can you cut 7 million in a KD trade maybe or you can cut five and then try to maybe you cut money in a Grayson Allen trade as well and then now you’re under the first apron. I do we we it hasn’t come up as much in the recent reporting but there were definitely rumors and notes at the beginning of the offseason. I think Windhorse said it very specifically at one point that the Suns know they need to get under those those issues. They know they need to trade to Rant. Why not try to do two birds with one stone? So, I think that will weigh pretty heavily, too, which is again why I I think a a cat type deal is just less likely, but I could be wrong. Yeah, Cat Gobear, I don’t get why people want Cap, but Gobear, I wouldn’t get it either. Um, I would just tend to agree with you, man. I think if they get a center back, it’s going to be a wear, a lively, or maybe even a Mitchell Robinson, someone who’s like a stop gap guy that’s better than what you have now, but he just can’t stay healthy. Um, and then they’re going to focus more on picks and the next generation of the Suns team. That’s where I think that they would go. Yeah. All right, back to the coaching search. The New York Knicks fired Tom Thibido on Tuesday after being dispatched by the Pacers in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals. That wouldn’t normally matter because the Suns are very far along in their search. But it just so happens that one of the two guys the Suns are choosing from, Johnny Bryant, happens to have a history with the Knicks. Could that get in the way of the Suns getting it done? Next, first a word from open phone. If you’re running a business, you know that every mis call is money left on the table. Think about the last time you had an urgent need, maybe for a plumber or a service provider or somebody else. If the first person didn’t answer, did you wait? Probably not. You moved on. That’s why you need open phone. Open phone is the number one business phone system built to streamline and scale your customer communications all from an app on your phone or computer. Man, I was trying to get quotes from a bunch of different moving companies this past week. Could not get a hold of anybody. I would get an email or a text back when I would fill out the quote sheet on their website and they would say, “Oh, call me right back at this number when you get this message and we can talk about your quote.” I would call, I’d get sent to some hold, a busy signal, whatever. And then I would get dropped and I didn’t get to talk to anybody and then it’d be start starting from scratch. And I ended up just skipping over like two companies because I just couldn’t freaking get them to pick up the phone because they didn’t have open phone. They didn’t have an efficient, solid, useful, AI powered business phone system. Try it for yourself. Get 20% off your first six months if you own a business and need this service at openphone.com/lockdonba. That’s op.com/lockdonba. And if you have existing numbers with another service, Open Phone will port them over at no extra charge. Open Phone. No missed calls, no missed customers. All right, Ben, let’s close it out. So, Johnny Bryant, we we talked in depth about him yesterday and in the past few days as he suddenly made a a powerful run back into the list of top candidates to be the next Suns head coach, lead assistant in Cleveland, associate head coach in Cleveland this year. But for four years before that, he was Tom Thibido’s right-hand man with the Knicks. helped them get to the second round for the first time in freaking years in 2021. Then last year pushed back through with Brunson and and that crew and then this year uh left and they made it to the conference finals largely off of the system and everything that he developed. We don’t really know. A name hasn’t come out immediately here. It’s been a few hours since Tibs got fired. We don’t know for sure if Johnny Bryant’s gonna even be in the mix, but people have understandably started to put two and two together. Suns fans getting a little freaked out. Knicks fans getting a little excited. Do you think this actually could come to pass or do you think if he’s the Suns guy, they’ll get him? It would be really deflating if we found out Johnny Bryant dropped out of the running for the Suns. That would probably be the worst thing because then you’re stuck with Jordan and he might be awesome but and then the Suns also get their guy and Suns fans feel like you’re kind of jobbed because you just let go of Chris Quinn and let go of Sweeney and you’re you’re didn’t even bother to interview Dave Bliss. He just got like Exactly. Right. And so I would say the Suns have a head coach. If the Suns don’t pick their head coach tomorrow, like if by the end of the maybe tonight or tomorrow morning, if they don’t have a head coach selection by tonight or tomorrow morning, I will be 150% swung the pendulum the other direction that Jordan not will be the head coach because you see this news and immediately and I was like, “Oh god, what if Bryant decid like the Knicks are an just an object ly better job. And maybe Bryant’s already told them, “Hey guys, you can just take that guy. I’m not that interested in your job anymore.” They’ve got some picks. They’ve got players. Bigger market, bigger scrutiny, but bigger market. I do worry about this a little bit. Go ahead and calm me down. Well, I don’t know if you’re wrong or anything, but I don’t know if it’s a for sure a better job. I mean, they just made it much further. That’s for sure. But we’re already hearing about the roster could change. So it’s not set in stone that you’re running it back with this group. Mhm. They don’t have a ton. Like this sort of is the roster. Now the Suns are in dire straits of their own. Obviously I’m not trying to say that that’s not true. But the Knicks might have you you could tell me they capped out here. They peaked right in this year that this is the best that this Brunson group is going to get. So if it’s on the downswing, maybe you don’t want that job. We don’t know if he’s going to get, you know, how much he gets paid matters. I don’t know if coaches care about the market size. They’re not trying to get a Nike deal the same way that a player is. Well, what what does it matter for a coach to coach in a bigger market if they’re getting paid more in a smaller market, for instance? Like if the Suns paid him 8 million and the Knicks paid him six million, what is why would you take or even equal? Let’s say 8 million and 8 million. What’s better about New York if you like the Sun’s situation better? Well, you’re going to make Well, I don’t I don’t think there’s any world where you like the Sun situation better than you like the Knicks, but forget about that. You’re going to make more money in endorsements. You’re going to make more money in in showing up to things. Oh, yeah. I mean, like, Coach K gets endorsement deals. Nick S. I Yeah, some coaches fourth best team in the Eastern Conference, even if it’s the Knicks. I mean, getting endorsements. Listen, I’m not thinking about the the the the fourth best team in the Eastern Conference. I’m thinking about New York. and you’re going to get more credit thrown your way. You’re going to get more popularity. With that comes more scrutiny. But yeah, I think New York in all accounts, man, is a better job than Phoenix. I don’t like admitting that. So, the other thing I was going to say is he just left. He chose to leave. He didn’t get fired. He didn’t have a a fault some kind of Kenny Atinson got down on one knee and and begged him. He he went to Cleveland. I mean, he obviously had the relationship with Atinson through their kind of coaching tree connections and everything, but it’s not like he clearly wasn’t married to the Knicks. So the idea that he’s just going to come running back when he’s already potentially the son’s choice, that that would feel a little Him and Tibs have served together. Do you think that plays a factor? Maybe he doesn’t want to take it because Tibs was just there. Yeah, it could. I don’t know. You I don’t know how like I get people connecting the dots. Don’t get me wrong. Of course. How could you not? But that’s not that doesn’t really happen a lot where How often does this happen though? How often does this happen though? Like where? No, of course like this exact confluence where he happen I I set the son’s part aside. I’m not even really saying like leaving the sons at the altar. That’s rare also. But I’m just saying like top assistant is there for a while, leaves, and then gets hired to be the head coach. Like for instance, the Spurs didn’t hire Bud when Pop stepped down this year. They didn’t hire Brett Brown. They didn’t go steal Becky Hammond back from the Aces. They hired some dude we’d never heard of, some kid. So, you know, I I just don’t think that that’s like such a lock the way that people, oh, they’re going to go get Johnny Bryant back. It’s like, well, he might have left for a reason. Maybe. Well, yeah. Maybe he doesn’t get Yeah, maybe he doesn’t get along with ownership. Maybe he doesn’t get along with the front office. Maybe he just doesn’t like how things are ran there. Um, I don’t just think it’s specifically, maybe you’re right. I don’t think it’s specifically like them wanting Johnny Bryant. I think it’s also Johnny Bryant potentially wanting the Knicks. But it’s also like I think the risk you run if you’re Johnny Bryant, you’re trying to get that head coaching job now is they have had a meddling owner in the past. Suns have that as well, but the RO is willing to spend all the money it takes to win. So that’s a plus. But I would just think also you’re going to have to compete. Like maybe the Knicks don’t want you as much as you want them and you got Chris Quinn, Sean Sweeney, all these guys that got passed up for the Suns job and maybe that’s the case, man. Maybe they But I don’t know. It just felt it felt like weird timing that they get rid of Tibido. It felt like it was kind of quick, too. For a guy that got him to the furthest that they’ve been in like three decades that maybe they were eyeing, hey guys, Johnny Bryant might be gone soon. We got we got to make this phone call now. And so that worries me, man. And and we said he’s he’s kind of next up in the league. So it’s not like it’s just because he was a Knicks guy. You could just like him, you know, even if he had never worked for the Knicks. I think it would at least it still would come up. So and he’s an offensive coach, which my guess is that’s the direction that they’re going to go given they just fired one of the better defensive minds in the league. They’re going to go the other direction. And that’s kind of what you do if you’re firing a coach and you’re still trying to win a championship is you pivot. Um I I don’t know. I my guess would be Michael Malone pops up. His dad coached there off and on for a lot of the 30 years he was in the league. Michael Malone started his coaching career in New York uh in 03 and he was there for two or three seasons. Big name. Uh obviously has championship pedigree. He’s a little similar to Tibs, which could be the the knock there, but that one I think might come up. Um, there’s probably guys we haven’t I saw somebody Frank Isola, who’s kind of plugged in out there, said Jason Kid, uh, he threw out. I don’t think he was reporting that that’s like likely or anything. He just was like, “Hey, I would like this.” Because he played for the Knicks, uh, at one point. So, here’s a directions. It is a desirable job, don’t get me wrong. Here’s a name for you. Mike Benholtzer. And tagging along with him. And tagging along with him Bradley Beal. Just as like a just as like a They love so much. Um, hey, what about Frank Vogle? Maybe he goes over to the Oh, man. That guy has shafted he got shafted sword. He’s not gonna go. What? All right, fine. Then we’ll send him Monty Williams and his $80 million. He’s just going to flush that down the drain. That’s Detroit’s problem. I don’t The Suns aren’t doing any of the sending on that side of it. Yeah, it’s true. Yeah. I don’t know. We’ll We’ll hear more, but if I’m the Suns, if Bryant’s the guy at this point, there’s no more to be figured out. They know who they want. Get him on the freaking phone, fly him out here, and give him a pen. Do you think do you think the person Do you think the person Jordan not or Johnny Bryant do you think they know they got the job now? I’m nervous we might not post this podcast quick enough. So yeah, you know what I mean? I think it’s definitely been Well, I’m I was telling my wife, so we’ve got So we just saw my movie last week, Mission Impossible. By the way, best franchise ever, Tom Cruz, the greatest actor ever. Debbie a wall. Um we’re seeing Lilo and Stitch tonight at 7. So Brendan, the news can’t break then. All right, I’m going to my parents house for dinner, so I’m not available either. So we might need to be in for a really late night recording or god hopefully the Suns do us a favor and they save it till tomorrow. But either way, we will be here for you. So become an everyday or hit follow, hit subscribe wherever you’re finding us. We will have that episode for you just as soon as we possibly can. Enjoy your Wednesday. In the meantime, we’ll talk to you soon.

The Phoenix Suns are reportedly decreasing their asking price for Kevin Durant, is it time to panic?

Brendon Kleen and Ben Garcia discuss what it means before debating what the Suns’ top priority will be in a return for KD. Then, are the Knicks a threat to steal Johnnie Bryant from the Suns?

📲 Follow Locked On Suns on TikTok
Locked On Suns https://www.tiktok.com/@lockedonphxsuns?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

📲 Follow Locked On Suns on Instagram
Locked On Suns https://www.instagram.com/lockedonphxsuns/

📲 Follow Locked On Suns on X
Locked On Suns https://x.com/LockedOnPHXSuns
Brendon Kleen https://x.com/BrendonKleen14
Ben Garcia https://x.com/BenGarciaShow

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOSuns?sid=YouTube

Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA

📢 Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!

Robinhood
Robinhood Gold provides the privileges of a high net worth for any net worth. These generous benefits are now available for only $5/month. The new Gold Standard is here with Robinhood Gold. Sign up at robinhood.com/gold.

Mint Mobile
To get the new customer offer and your new 3-month premium wireless plan for just $15 a month, go to mintmobile.com/lockedonnba. See Mint Mobile for details.

Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.

FanDuel
You can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS – if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR BET ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

#PhoenixSuns #KevinDurant #DevinBooker #NBA #BradleyBeal