It was Phoenix. It was always Phoenix.
Even before Kevin Durant requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets last June, mere minutes before the NBA’s 2022 free agency period began, word had already spread among league personnel: Durant’s eye was wandering toward the Suns. If he could ever angle away from the franchise Durant joined in 2019 alongside Kyrie Irving, the prospect of teaming with Chris Paul and Devin Booker loomed on a tantalizing horizon. One of the greatest point guards to ever patrol the court and one of the sport’s most dangerous scorers behind Durant were waiting in a warm-weather metropolis on a team flush with draft capital, plus Finals-tested players rife with trade value.