Monty Williams Kept It Real On A Kevin Durant Trade To The Suns: “We’ve Been So Blessed Here To Have Guys Who Want To Come. At The Same Time, At The Expense Of What, Was My Thinking.”

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The Phoenix Suns had been the doormat of the Western Conference for much of the 2010s. After all the success that the franchise had in the Steve Nash era, everything fell apart for the Suns, and it wasn’t until Monty Williams arrived in 2019 that their fortunes finally changed. Under Monty, the Suns went from the worst record in the Conference in 2018-19 to narrowly missing out on the play-in game, and once they acquired Chris Paul via trade in 2020, the Suns finally returned to relevance.

With Paul and Williams, they made it to the NBA Finals in 2021 and had the best record in the league last season, although it was soured by the fact that they were shockingly eliminated by the Mavericks in the Conference Semifinals. Despite that, Kevin Durant still listed them as one of his preferred destinations when he requested a trade, something that would have been unthinkable a few years back. Nothing happened in the end, though, as KD will stay with the Nets and Williams recently spoke about the Durant links for the first time.

“I never talked to any of our guys about that. One, people don’t understand how hard trades are to pull off. When I first heard about the Kevin Durant stuff, I was kinda blown away by it, just because we’ve been so blessed here to have guys who want to come. At the same time, at the expense of what, was my thinking.”

It does speak to how far the Suns have come that a superstar like Durant was interested in playing for them. They ultimately did not have the assets to pull off a deal, however, and a team insider revealed they never made a formal offer to the Nets.

They’ll now run it back with much of the same roster that looked far and away the best in the league last season, before that stunning collapse against the Mavericks. We’ll soon find out just how much of an impact that had on the team as they look to finally win a championship for the first time in franchise history. 

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Gautam Varier is a staff writer and columnist for Fadeaway World from Mumbai, India. He graduated from Symbiosis International University with a Master of Business specializing in Sports Management in 2020. This educational achievement enables Gautam to apply sophisticated analytical techniques to his incisive coverage of basketball, blending business acumen with sports knowledge.Before joining Fadeaway World in 2022, Gautam honed his journalistic skills at Sportskeeda and SportsKPI, where he covered a range of sports topics with an emphasis on basketball. His passion for the sport was ignited after witnessing the high-octane offense of the Steve Nash-led Phoenix Suns. Among the Suns, Shawn Marion stood out to Gautam as an all-time underrated NBA player. Marion’s versatility as a defender and his rebounding prowess, despite being just 6’7”, impressed Gautam immensely. He admired Marion’s finishing ability at the rim and his shooting, despite an unconventional jump shot, believing that Marion’s skill set would have been even more appreciated in today’s NBA.This transformative experience not only deepened his love for basketball but also shaped his approach to sports writing, enabling him to connect with readers through vivid storytelling and insightful analysis.
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