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Par Mathieu Seguin | Rédacteur sport
While Kevin Durant’s departure has been on the cards for some time, not everything has been confirmed at this stage. The new GM has been rather confident since his arrival, and could retain a good part of the roster.
Away from the best teams in the league this season, the Suns will have to make a lot of changes behind the scenes in order to bounce back. This has already been the case for a few weeks now, with Mike Budenholzer fired and the GM relieved of his duties to return to a less important position. Phoenix’s new strongman? Brian Gregory, close to the owner.
With quite a few changes, departures and trades, the Suns believe they have what it takes to play for the title next season. We don’t know if this will be the case, but Gregory seemed very confident when he appeared before reporters earlier this week. However, he will have to deal with two thorny issues with Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal.
A surprise in store for the Suns this summer?
Beal has been pushed towards the exit for some time, the fault of horrible performances and a contract approaching 60 million per season. Durant is still a great player, but his departure could alleviate the financial burden and allow Phoenix to bounce back better, so much so that the franchise already tried to trade him in February. To no avail.
The trade of these two men seems to have been a foregone conclusion on paper for a very long time, but Gregory doesn’t seem to be moving in that direction any time soon. So, is it just a bluff or a real intention to keep both men for next season? We don’t know yet, but we can imagine that fans won’t be happy with this talk.
Brian Gregory : “I have a very, very good relationship with both those guys. Kevin (Durant) gave me a nice hug in the weight room the other night… I had a great dinner with Brad Beal. My main focus right now to be honest with you is finding the right head coach for those guys.”
And with his last sentence, Gregory can make it clear that his intention is to keep both players. It’s always harder to trade people you get on well with, even if it seems like the right thing to do for the Suns today. The turnaround is therefore credible at this point, but perhaps the GM will be asked to lighten the roster quickly.
