Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns
Over the past couple of months, it's been pretty clear that the No. 1 priority for the Phoenix Suns heading into the NBA Trade Deadline revolves around trying to acquire Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat. However, just a couple of days before the trade deadline, it doesn't appear as if the team has made much traction on that front - mostly because of Bradley Beal's no-trade clause. If the Suns can't figure out how to move on from Beal, they may have to resort to trading KD if they want Jimmy.
In fact, the Suns can forget about the Jimmy plan entirely if they want to and focus on retooling the roster around Devin Booker. As we've inched closer and closer to the trade deadline, it does seem as if there's a greater and greater chance that KD could end up being moved. Like many other players on this list, I wouldn't say it's likely. However, nothing is completely off the table for the struggling Suns at the moment; that's something we have to keep in mind while we speculate about their future.
A few teams that could make the bold move: It's tough to predict which teams could be in on KD at this point but I'd imagine the list would be long. Any contender that believes they're a superstar away from a magical postseason run should be calling the Suns. A few that could make sense are the Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, and Memphis Grizzlies. Whether all of those teams have expressed interest remains to be seen. However, if KD is available, it could make for a chaotic last couple of days before the deadline.
There's a strong argument to be made that the Suns could hold the cards to how crazy the rest of the trade deadline season will be - mostly because there's an overwhelming expectation that they're either going to land Jimmy Butler or trade Kevin Durant. That's quite an array of possibilities for the franchise.