There’s a storm brewing, and you can feel it in your bones. The air hangs heavy with anticipation, the wind beginning to stir as something big looms on the horizon. It’s not just a metaphor; it’s the unmistakable shift that precedes everything that changes.The Phoenix Suns are deep in trade negotiations, inching closer to parting ways with Kevin Durant. If you haven’t already, turn your notifications on. We’re entering that volatile window where news can drop at any moment, and when it does, it’ll hit like a monsoon.
Yesterday, I had a moment. I was climbing into my truck for a quick run to the local Shell station. Just a man on a mission for a six-pack of Firestone Walker 805. Then, the vibration. “Shams Charania” and “Kevin Durant” lit up my screen. My heart skipped. My breath caught. For a second, I thought this was it. That the sky had cracked open. That the trade had gone down, and the storm had officially arrived.But it’s a reminder that we are near.
This past week has been “Kevin Durant Mock Trade Week” here at Bright Side. The writing team has been grinding through mock trade after mock trade, fully aware that predicting the deal that ultimately sends the 15-time All-Star out of Phoenix is like trying to catch lightning in a bottle
The NBA trade machine is complex, layered with salary-matching rules, luxury tax constraints, and the increasing likelihood of third and even fourth teams joining the fray. But complexity never stopped us from diving in headfirst and having a little fun along the way. We wanted to explore just how far Kevin Durant’s value could stretch and how the Suns might reshape their future in the process.
And now, as mock trade week comes to a close, we turn it over to you.
Below is a collection of every proposed deal we came up with, each crafted with creativity, analysis, and a bit of wishful thinking. Now it’s your turn to weigh in. Give each trade a letter grade based on what the Suns would receive in return, vote on which deal you think is the most realistic, and tell us which one you’d most want to see Phoenix pull the trigger on..
