Trade Idea Moves Suns' Kevin Durant to Eastern Conference

The Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat have made a big trade for a future Hall-of-Fame player before.

In 2008, the Heat sent Shaquille O'Neal to the Suns for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. Now, the shoe may be on the other foot as the Suns look to ship out a superstar.

CBS Sports writer Sam Quinn proposed a three-team trade idea that would send Kevin Durant to the Heat. The Suns would get Andrew Wiggins, Nikola Jovic and two first-round picks from Miami, while also snagging Robert Williams III from the Portland Trail Blazers. Duncan Robinson would go to the pacific northwest in the deal as well.

"Miami has the least player value to offer here unless Kel'El Ware (probably no), Tyler Herro (almost certainly no) or Bam Adebayo (you've been beheaded for besmirching Heat Culture) were available. That means they'd have to supplement their offer with the most pick value. In this deal, we'll let the Heat keep the No. 20 pick this year to help build depth. In exchange, the Suns get unprotected picks in 2030 and 2032, when Durant will be retired and Adebayo will be at or near the end of his prime," Quinn wrote.

"Those picks would be valuable trade chips, and we can assume, based on Mat Ishbia's history, that he'd likely dangle them for win-now help. He gets a bit of it in this deal. Wiggins has had an up-and-down last few years because of personal issues, but he's somehow only 30-years-old and a pretty valuable two-way forward to put in a lineup next to Booker. Williams is the center we'll snag for this deal."

The Suns get three key players that can operate in a playoff rotation for next season.

Wiggins is the biggest question mark, especially given his inconsistent play, but if he is able to channel the 2022 version of himself that helped the Golden State Warriors win a championship, this could be a great deal for the Suns.