PHOENIX — On Aug. 19, 1996, the Phoenix Suns moved on from a memorable chapter in their history. They had just traded aging superstar Charles Barkley to the Houston Rockets for four players. At a news conference at America West Arena, the newcomers sat, left to right, forward Mark Bryant, guard Sam Cassell, forward Robert Horry and forward Chucky Brown.
The Suns that afternoon promised a new basketball style, one built upon defense and tempo. Assistant coach Danny Ainge compared Barkley, who had led the Suns to the 1993 NBA Finals, to a Rolls-Royce. Four years earlier, team president Jerry Colangelo had acquired this fancy car at a good price, Ainge said. “After he got good use from it, he sold it for a profit. And he had to sell it because the warranty was running out.”
In a similar franchise-altering move, the Suns on Sunday traded superstar Kevin Durant to those same Rockets for guard Jalen Green, small forward Dillon Brooks, the 10th pick in this week’s NBA Draft and five second-round picks. Like Barkley, Durant, who turns 37 in September, might be slightly past his prime. But unlike Barkley, his basketball warranty still has plenty of life. Durant remains one of the game’s elite scorers, a perennial All-Star and devastating closer. His three seasons in Phoenix reflected as much, if little else.
How the Suns got here is a lesson in roster construction and patience. While Durant was a model of consistency, the Suns never found rhythm. They went through three head coaches and shuffled supporting parts every offseason. Things got worse when Phoenix traded for Bradley Beal in summer 2023, a fatal decision that compromised the team’s ability to improve the roster.
Durant will receive most of the public blame, not just because the Suns won only one playoff series during his stay, but because this is how it goes for players in his orbit. Durant acknowledged as much this season. Teams trade for him and expect “immediate success, straight to the championship.” It’s never that easy, said Durant, a two-time champion alongside Stephen Curry with the Golden State Warriors. Winning a title is hard. Success is a process.
Kevin Durant brought a jolt to the Suns when he arrived in 2023, but it didn’t translate to playoff success. Phoenix missed the postseason entirely this year. (Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
The top-heavy Suns never established much of one. Nor an identity. After acquiring Durant at the 2023 trade deadline, they lost in the Western Conference semifinals against the eventual champ, the Denver Nuggets. In 2024, they were swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs. This season they didn’t even make the Play-In Tournament. Not much later, owner Mat Ishbia and new general manager Brian Gregory promised change and a different mindset, one focused on toughness and grit. They hired a first-time head coach in Jordan Ott to help kick-start the reversal.
With Phoenix’s status as a second-apron team, restructuring the roster was always going to be the toughest part. The Suns were never going to come close to getting what they gave up for Durant (a package that included Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and four unprotected future first-round picks), but the organization placed itself in a difficult spot. The Suns let it be known that they planned to work with Durant on finding a destination. More importantly, with an intent to build around four-time All-Star guard Devin Booker and with Beal difficult to move, they lacked options.
How the new parts fit is unknown, provided the Suns keep them.
Green and Brooks were strong contributors on a Rockets team that finished with 52 wins, earning the Western Conference’s No. 2 playoff seed. Green, 23, is a capable scorer and improving defender who is durable and athletic, but he joins a crowded backcourt alongside Booker, Beal and Grayson Allen. Before taking the Phoenix job, Ott this season was an assistant coach on a Cleveland Cavaliers team that featured high-scoring guards in Donovan Mitchell (24 points per game) and Darius Garland (20.6), but Garland was more of a point guard. While a Booker-Green backcourt might have similar scoring pop, playmaking will determine its effectiveness.
Brooks, 29, is among the league’s biggest irritants. A second-team All-Defense selection during the 2022-23 season, he will supply toughness and attitude, provided he doesn’t take it too far, which he has been known to do. He gives Phoenix another wing defender alongside second-year forward Ryan Dunn and veteran Royce O’Neale.
The No. 10 pick gives the Suns a chance to fill a position of need, drafting someone like Khaman Maluach, providing the former Duke center is available. It might turn into the most important part of this deal. Phoenix also has the No. 29 pick.
Organizational resets are seldom easy. Even with a top-20 player like Booker, who remains in his prime as he enters his 11th season, the Suns could be headed for a difficult stretch. Ishbia, not known for patience, seems to recognize this, stressing the importance of building a team that fights and defends, which is similar to what the Suns said after trading Barkley to Houston all those years ago.
At the 1996 news conference, Cassell was asked what he thought the Suns had lacked during a 41-41 season that ended in the first round of the playoffs. The Arizona Republic reported Cassell tried to answer diplomatically, careful not to insult his new teammates and coaches. Seated beside Cassell, Horry leaned over and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear: “Defense.”
It offered a nice, post-superstar starting point for a new chapter, but the transition was harsh. With a reworked roster, the Suns opened the next season with 13 consecutive losses. They didn’t win a playoff series for four years.
(Top photo of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker: Vaughn Ridley / NBAE via Getty Images)