Charles Barkley Reveals The Phoenix Suns Didn’t Want To Send Deandre Ayton And Mikal Bridges For Kevin Durant

The Phoenix Suns rejected a Kevin Durant trade to keep Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges.

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In Brooklyn, the Nets are still looking for answers after a 1-4 start to the season. Based on talent alone, they should be one of the best teams in the East — instead, they are hovering near the bottom with too many flaws to count.

For Kevin Durant, who is caught in the middle of it all, things could have turned out differently. After requesting a trade this summer, he named Phoenix and the Heat as his preferred destinations in hopes that one of those teams would have the will and the assets to trade for him.

Of course, neither scenario played out for Durant. 


The Suns Apparently Rejected Kevin Durant For Deandre Ayton And Mikal Bridges

By the end of the summer, it became clear that neither team was going to strike a deal, especially the Suns. Despite what a big acquisition Durant would have been for them, Charles Barkley says they didn’t want to give up Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges.

“You know it’s so funny, living in Phoenix, these idiots like call me every day saying ‘what do you think?’ I says, ‘what do you mean what do I think?’ They says, ‘well they want a lot.’ I says, ‘Do they want Devin Booker and Chris Paul?’ They’re like, ‘no they don’t want them,’ I says, ‘well give it to them then!’ Chris Paul, KD, and Booker? We’re good. With those three guys — Chris is gonna be a leader… that takes responsibility away from KD, where he can just play basketball. They said, ‘well they want Ayton and Bridges.’ I said, ‘what a minute, y’all ain’t did that trade already? You’re gonna be able to keep Crowder, Cam Johnson. Ayton is a good player, Bridges is a good player but they ain’t KD and they ain’t ever gonna be. Y’all should have did that trade last week!”

We will never know why the Suns whiffed on the Durant sweepstakes. Had they been willing to give up Ayton, Bridges, and some picks, we would likely be watching their big three dominate the league right now.

Instead, they said no to all of that just to keep two above-average role players.

This season, the Suns will be playing to right their wrongs, but they’ll also be playing to ensure they don’t make Suns GM James Jones regret pulling the trigger on a Durant trade when he had the chance.

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Nico Martinez is a veteran staff writer for Fadeaway World from Brooklyn, New York. He joined Fadeaway World in 2016 and is currently residing in Columbia, South Carolina. Nico holds a degree in Sports Management from Columbia International University where he built a strong foundation in the inner workings of sports media and management. Nico's contributions have significantly enhanced the credibility and depth of Fadeaway World's content, earning him recognition across the sports journalism community. His work has been discussed in prestigious publications like Sports Illustrated. A dedicated follower of LeBron James, Nico often leads coverage on news related to the basketball star. With nearly a decade of experience in sports journalism, Nico consistently provides comprehensive and timely basketball news, engaging a wide audience of basketball enthusiasts.Nico's most desired player to interview, past or present, is Kevin Durant. He is particularly keen on asking Durant if he has any regrets about his career, especially concerning his departure from the Oklahoma City Thunder, and why he engages so much with fans on social media. 
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