Phoenix Suns insider John Gambadoro shares details of trading Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets

Phoenix Suns insider John Gambadoro shares details of trading Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets

the guy who’s been following this story for a long time Our very own John Gamidoro co-host of Burns and Gambo joins us here on the Arizona Sports Line Gambo Gambo have you exhaled I’m glad it’s over I’m so glad it’s over We are too Uh was this in what you found out or what you’ve been following was this ever close to be being a different destination for Kevin Durant other than Houston Because it just doesn’t seem like it to me Well Vinnie I mean here here’s a you know you you work this thing and and you work it and you work it and you know your six teams are involved and then you know you find out that there aren’t as many teams involved New York never made an offer San Antonio never made an offer I mean believe that or not the Spurs never made an offer So I think it did really come down to Houston um Miami Minnesota and then there were Toronto was involved and then there were two wild cards that I found out yesterday and reported that that had had some interest and spoke with the Suns about Durant One was the Denver Nuggets and the other was the Cleveland Cavaliers Um but New York and San Antonio never made offers Um so I do think they were the Suns were negotiating for weeks negotiating trying to get the price up trying to get the price up trying to get you know lot you know different players and do the best that they could And it was hard I mean it was this is trading a 37y old Kevin Durant is not like trading a 30-year-old Kevin Durant or even a 34 year old Kevin Durant So it it ended up being you know difficult And I think they made the best of a bad situation This was never going to be a great trade This was never going to be a we won the trade You just had to make the best of it And I I I think they did okay I think they did fine I don’t think they got fleeced in this deal The the the interest in Kevin Durant just wasn’t great right now When you take a look at Jaylen Green there’s so much positional overlap and and and there’s so many mixed opinions on who he is and and how he has not grown as a player Do you think that and I know you’ve reported that they’re going to keep him do you think that they’re just trying to build leverage to maybe trade him or do you think that that interest is real No I think they’re going to keep him Beck I really do Um you know this is just based on what I’m hearing I think you know the plan is to keep him and keep Dylan Brooks Look we’ll talk about Brooks in a second because you know they they’ve been they’ve been after Dylan Brooks for a while They really have Going back to the the failed Marshon Dylan Brooks trade You know it goes bad They’ve been trying to get him They like him He’s a terrific player Um what I’ll say about Green is look he’s he is he’s a great scorer He’s a great scorer He’s a young kid And the Suns got two starters from a team that was number two in the West Um they didn’t get a power forward or a center and they need to do that Green’s got a lot of limitations man He can’t guard anybody He’s not a good defensive player at all Um he’s not efficient like Book because he doesn’t shoot the ball that well He’s very streaky but he does attack the basket which the Suns were like last in the NBA yet Vinnie you know this from being at every game Like they don’t attack the basket Green does attack the basket He’ll get to the free throw line So he’s different He’s crazy athletic So you know like Book’s very efficient but Green is much more athletic I think they’re going to try it They’re going to try the two guys It’s not I it’s not ideal cuz neither one of them are great defensive players Um but Green is an athletic kid who can score a lot Get in you know great on the dribble handoff great in transition He He’s going to get you he can get you 20 he can get you 30 he can get you 40 So he’s a scorer but he’s very streaky So you’re going to have some really good games and some really bad games What do you think Gambo this the arrival and and this thinking that hey Brooks is part of the team Green’s part of the team What do you think that means for the futures of Royce O’Neal and Grayson Allen here I think they look to move um you know one of them for sure I think they absolutely look to move one of them Listen their priorities right now are to get a power forward a starting power forward That’s why like I would have loved for them to get Jabari Smith I would have loved Jabari Smith in this trade Um but and and back in February you could have had Jabari Smith in Jayen Green Now you weren’t able to get Jabari Smith So they turned that into Dylan Brooks the 10th pick and five second rounders So pick which one you like better because that’s really what it came down to You you know in February you could have had Jabari Smith but not had a first round pick and not had any second round picks and not had Dylan Brooks Um but they need a power forward They don’t have and they need a center They need another center They’d love for Nick Richards to be the backup center So their goal is to get a four Their goal is to get a five They weren’t able to really do that in this trade Um so now they’ve got to go out and figure out how to get those guys Now you reported um the details on those five second round picks What which of them do you think are going to have any value for the team Later I mean I look at the 30 and the 32 second rounders I mean I always like taking flyers on picks that are later on I mean that’s why Danny A took a flyer on the Suns 2031 first rounder I mean so many years down the road you just don’t know And those those picks hold values for second round picks are good right Um you know you can take a flyer on a guy if you like or they’re very good for trades People love them in trades Like I’ll trade you this guy and I’ll throw you three second rounders So they’re you need to have them to make trades The 10th pick is a good pick I think that’s the key to the whole whether you the the key to winning or losing this And I and I think the best the team that gets the best player always wins But Kevin Durant wasn’t impacting winning for the Phoenix Suns It’s just he wasn’t he’s not as an impactful player as as he was He doesn’t impact winning He’s a great player and he’s a great scorer but the ball gets stuck with him and he doesn’t do as much defensively anymore And I think he’ll be terrific in Houston because they got a lot of glue guys But it didn’t work here I So I think that they did fine I think the Suns made a decent trade I’m not saying it’s a great trade I’m not saying the Suns won the trade They made a decent trade They got the best they could They got Brooks and Green two starters And Brooks everybody’s going to love Brooks because he can guard one two or three He guards Shay Gilas Alexander He guards LeBron He guards Anthony Davis He guards power forward sometimes So he’s that dog that alpha guy that they just needed Um so I like that I think the key again I think the key is the 10th pick If they could turn that into a really good starter and and a future allstar I think people are going to look differently upon this trade So I really do think the key to this whole trade comes down to what type of player do they get at number 10 You’re exactly right I was going to ask you because you talked about the priority of getting a four and a five in this off season Are the Suns married to the idea of keeping that number 10 pick and using it or could that be maybe spun off into another deal you know this summer for for somebody who can help right now Um I keep getting asked about am I gonna do a gambo five for the Suns draft And I probably am and I’ll probably do it tomorrow Um I think they’re going to keep the pick Okay I think they’re going to keep the pick Now I don’t know if they’ll keep 28 You know maybe they could take 28 in a second rounder and package them and move up a little bit or you know get a few but I think they’re going to keep the 10th pick Okay And try to get an impact player there It’s not a bad spot Like it’s a good like some of the other picks they could have got were 14 17 Miami was like which had a garbage offer I love to trolling the Heat fans yesterday Let me tell you something I had so much enjoyment out of that Oh they uh they overvalue their assets more than any team I think in professional sports Gambo man I had so much fun yesterday just trolling all those Heat fans I told them their offer was garbage and they weren’t getting KD and they man they came attacked me for two weeks So I had my I had my fun with that yesterday I think they keep the 10th pick Vinnie I wouldn’t be certain on the 28th pick I think if they could move the 28th pick I think they would move it Maybe they move up maybe they move out alto together for a future but I I’m going to say they keep the 10th pick All right Gambo thanks for the time We’ll be listening today Two to six I’m I’m sure you and Bernie will have a lot more on this trade Bernie took off He’s on vacation Simon Kellen Yeah I I I found out about this trade Saturday night I even screenshotted it and put it out yesterday that Saturday night at 10:00 at night I took a screenshot Dylan Brooks Jaylen Green the 10th pick I didn’t know about the second rounders at that time but I did text Bernie at like 7:00 in the morning yesterday I said “Hey here’s the trade It’s going down This is what it is.” He was on vacation He’s out on the beach having a cup of coffee right He takes the week Kevin Durant gets traded The guy takes off Go figure Thanks Gambo Thanks Gambo John Gamadoro Kellen Olsen filling in for Bernie today Thanks for watching Bickley and Marada Click to see the latest Bley Blast and hit the button in the middle to subscribe to Arizona Sports

John Gambadoro shares the details of the Kevin Durant trade and the other offers the Phoenix Suns had on the table before sending him to Houston.

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