NBA Trade Rumors: Suns relax asking price for Kevin Durant as desperation grows to fix deal with Houston Rockets

The Phoenix Suns are hitting the drawing board again. With Bradley Beal’s no-trade clause and steep salary and their commitment to Devin Booker as their franchise player, Kevin Durant is apparently the odd man out in the valley.

They already tried to trade Durant at the trade deadline this season, but to no avail, as he reportedly turned down a return to the Golden State Warriors.

Now, Kelly Iko of The Athletic reports that the team is still aggressively trying to move on from the former two-time NBA champion, mostly in an attempt to regain control of all the draft picks it has given up in recent times.

“Phoenix is aggressive in pursuit of a) trading Kevin Durant and b) regaining full control of their draft capital starting with the No. 10 pick in next month’s draft, team sources said," Iko wrote Tuesday.

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Iko added that the Suns have been in constant talks with the Houston Rockets regarding a potential trade for Durant. Nevertheless, as much as the Rockets are intrigued by the prospect of adding the superstar forward, they have some legitimate concerns about his age, durability, and asking price:

"Since the conclusion of the season, Houston has fielded several calls from Phoenix, who have since gradually lowered their asking price for Durant, those sources said. 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, doubt remains over a deal materializing,” he added.

Durant is a future first-ballot Hall of Famer, and the Rockets could use his three-level scoring, but they're hesitant to give up on their myriad of young players to land a player on the backend of his prime.

Kevin Durant is still a superstar

The Rockets or any other team trying to trade for Durant is doing the right thing by taking a cautious approach, as he's struggled with injuries and isn't getting any younger.

Then again, he can still make a case for being a top-10 player when healthy, as he showed by averaging 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.2 blocks and 2.6 3-pointers per game on 52/43/83 shooting splits this season.

He's still one of the greatest pure scorers this game has ever seen, an underrated defender, and a player who doesn't need to be the primary scorer to be efficient. As risky a bet as it might be, he's one of the few players worth rolling the dice for.

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About the author

Ernesto Cova

Ernesto Cova is a journalist at Sportskeeda with a PhD in Sports Psychology. His education helped him develop a clearer understanding of the sports world as a whole, including basketball. Ernesto has over eight years of experience in the field, working for Fadeaway World, The Inquisitr, NBA Blast, The Cold Wire and Bolavip, among others.

His favorite team is the Chicago Bulls because of the Michael Jordan era. Jordan is Ernesto's all-time favorite, as he changed the game forever. Ernesto's second favorite was Kobe Bryant because he embodied that same competitive fire and Ernesto watched him play throughout his entire career. Nowadays, Ernesto really likes Stephen Curry, who he believes to be the most influential player of the past 15 years or so.

Ernesto's favorite basketball moment was when Venezuela -- his country -- took down Canada to take home the 2015 FIBA Americas Cup.

When not watching or writing about basketball, Ernesto likes to read and is interested in photography.

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