Latest Suns report gives Spurs hope to pull off reasonable Durant trade

The Suns have reportedly lowered their price for a potential Kevin Durant trade, according to Kelly Iko from The Athletic. That's great news for a Spurs team who are in the market for a serious upgrade to the roster. Shams Charania recently revealed that San Antonio and KD had mutual interest around the trade deadline. Those talks could be revisited now.

Phoenix was prepared to send Durant to Golden State at the deadline, but the 36-year-old veteran nixed the idea of returning to his old team. Good thing he did. He wouldn't have even been an option for the Spurs if that had happened. I have zero doubts that their front office would have extended him, and he'd have ended his career next to Steph Curry. Now, other more beneficial options are available.

Durant would take Spurs to the next level

KD would add something special to SA's offense, and in turn, he'd help the defense. The Silver and Black were 17th in field goal efficiency, and with Victor Wembanyama on the floor, teams would rather not face a half-court defense. They're struggle to make shots led to run outs, mismatches, and easy baskets on the other end.

Fortunately for Durant, efficiency isn't something that he struggles with. He's been a 50/40/90 guy for many of the important years of his career. That's 50% from the field, 40% from three, and 90% from the free throw line. His free-throw shooting fell under that mark a few times, but not by much. He was nicknamed Easy Money Sniper for a reason.

Victor Wembanyama looks up to KD. He's modeled parts of his game after the Phoenix forward, and he could learn much more from him if they played on the same team. Someone with the talent and drive Wembanyama has would benefit immensely from working with Durant because he'd be willing to put in the work it takes to nearly perfect everything he learns.

Phoenix likely ran into the issue of being told they were out of their minds if they were seeking a ransom for Durantula. Everything I've said about how special he is is true, but that doesn't change the fact that he's going on 37 years old and coming off another injury. He's had a bunch of those in his latter years, so that's the catch to bringing him onto the team.

However, the Spurs are known for managing the health of their veterans, so they'd likely keep his minutes to a reasonable average. If they can pull off a deal without setting Phoenix up for major success based on this one trade, they should do that. It'd be worth it.