"I'm Like 98% Sure He's Not Going To Be A Sun Next Year" - Brian Windhorst Is Back To Dropping Trade Hints Which Pretty Much Confirms That Chaos Is On The Horizon

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Yesterday, it was Shams declaring that he fully expects this offseason to be one of the craziest offseasons ever. Once you took a quick look at the free agent class, you realize he's most likely not talking about potential free agent signings. Of the guys who should hit the market, nobody is that caliber of a needle mover.

Now today, we have this from Windy

By now, you should know the drill. Hit it baby!!

To be fair, this isn't exactly a groundbreaking take. It's more of a "uhhhhhhhhhh ya think??" situation, given that anyone who has been following the NBA and the Suns this season knew a KD trade this summer was the most likely outcome. 

But as they say, where there's smoke, there's usually fire, and with the way Shams was talking yesterday and now how Windy is talking today, I'd say the smoke is getting thicker by the day.

The million dollar question is, of course, where the hell is he going? As a reminder, this is the contract situation the Suns and any potential suitor are dealing with

As Windy explained, this is the first dilemma. Given what it is going to cost both in terms of picks and salary in order to make this type of trade, that's a lot to give up just to trade for a guy who could walk at the end of next season, and then you're left with nothing. Given the new CBA, even if you want to trade and extend KD, you're probably looking at something that's at least another 2/100M right? Think of what just happened with Jimmy Butler. He got traded, had 1 year left on his deal, signed a 2/$121M extension, and he's basically the same age as KD. 

You then have to weigh if it makes sense to potentially put yourself in apron hell for a 37, 38, and 39 year old KD. You have to be a team that can win now, has the assets/contracts to make the math work, and has a positional need.

How many of those teams are out there? It's not exactly a long list. Not impossible, but in this new CBA world, it's certainly more complicated.

The first team that comes to mind should probably be the Rockets. We saw this postseason how limited their offense/shot creation can be, and KD in theory solves a lot of those issues. In terms of contract money, they have plenty of paths to make the money work, depending on what the Suns might want 

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Let's also not forget that Ime Udoka and KD were both on the Nets at the same time, and there was always speculation while he was coaching the Celtics that he wanted to flip Jaylen Brown for KD, so you have to imagine he's interested this time around as well. They also fit the bill in terms of being a "win now" contender.

The Rockets also own plenty of picks to satisfy that part of the trade as well, including a 2027 unprotected Suns first, and then a potential 2029 Suns 1st round pick swap as well as all of their own 1sts, and a 2027 BKN 1st round pick swap. They can basically trade 5 future 1sts and 7 future 2nds as they negotiate deals this summer. 

Basically, the Rockets can check every box in a potential deal.

You then move to a team like the Spurs, who have made it quite clear that they are ready to "win now" as they enter Year 3 of Wemby. Their issue is getting close to Durant's salary, but there are avenues to figure that out

I would think a package probably includes Vassell/Barnes, so from a positional need, the Spurs would certainly have one. When it comes to a potential extension, given the fact that the Spurs aren't even a luxury tax-paying team yet, I don't see why they'd be against extending KD for 2 more years after next season at whatever price it took. They can follow the OKC model in terms of loading up while your best players are still on their rookie deals. By the time they need to think about extending their young core players, KD either won't be around anymore, or they could always flip him as an expiring. 

Picks-wise, they aren't as robust as the Rockets, but they still have plenty to move should the opportunity present itself. 

One thing we've seen in recent NBA trades is don't bother trying to figure out what is or isn't "good value" in deals like this. Things that may have once sounded insane, now actually happen. We live in a world where Mikal Bridges garners 5 1st rounds picks and Luka Doncic was traded for a ham sandwich. None of it makes sense, but that's also what makes the potential for chaos this summer so enticing. 

If I were to vote, I'd put it at HOU and then SA in the pecking order for KD, which means he'll probably end up on a team that none of us saw coming for a package nobody could have predicted. Happy bidding!