A total of $259.5 million was the total amount the Phoenix Suns had to pay for their extremely expensive “super team” last season.
This figure includes the base salary plus the luxury tax due to overspending, which the team is willing to pay to maintain the superstar trio Bradley Beal and two Olympic gold medalists, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.
Spending such a huge amount of money, Phoenix Suns only ranked 6th in the West and was eliminated from the Playoffs in the first round by Minnesota Timberwolves (series score 4-0).
The nightmare has yet to come for the Suns because in the upcoming 2024-25 season, the number will not stop at “head 2” but will increase 1.7 times, reaching nearly 450 million USD.
This has led to some rumors that Phoenix will be giving up one of their stars, namely Kevin Durant. Could the Suns trade KD, who has two years left on his contract, to reduce the amount of money they have to spend?
In response to the rumors circulating in the NBA fan community, the Phoenix Suns owners have spoken out to clarify, represented by team CEO Josh Bartelstein.
“He’s doing great here. We’ve been in close contact with Kevin Durant himself and his agent Rich Kleiman, talking about the Olympics and other things that Kevin’s going through.
Josh Bartelstein also added that the Phoenix Suns would only trade Kevin Durant if the player really wanted to, but that hasn’t happened yet.
“We’re looking forward to a more explosive new season and Kevin will also be more closely involved in the team’s journey. I can confirm that everyone is happy and feels very good,” the Suns CEO added.
The Phoenix Suns will begin the 2024-25 season not at home but away in Los Angeles. Kevin Durant and his teammates will play the “opening” game at the LA Clippers’ newest NBA arena (Intuit Dome), then visit the Los Angeles Lakers’ Crypto.com Arena.
