Could Kevin Durant be on the move? Which NBA Players are on the Hot Seat? | NBA Season Preview - video Dailymotion

Peter Klein

Kevin Durant is still one of the best players in the NBA, but if things start slowly for the Phoenix Suns, could he be on the move. Peter Klein looks at the Top 5 NBA Players on the Hot Seat this year as the 2024-25 NBA Season Preview continues.   Apple Pod: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/couch-potato-diary/id1564122189 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3QgazeHcSKSteZbBIubcuM Twitter: twitter.com/primetimeklein IG: instagram.com/primetimeklein Facebook: www.facebook.com/Couchpotatodiary Twitch: twitch.tv/primetimepk Email: couchpotatodiary@yahoo.com We Had No Idea: every Wednesday morning,  instagram.com/wehadnoideapodcast

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00:00Earlier this offseason we did coaches on the hot seat, today it is players on the hot seat.

00:14And this one can mean different things at different times.

00:18But for the most part it is players who are facing pressure for either trades or just

00:25potentially leaving their team or whatever it may be.

00:28So it's going to mean different things for different players as this list goes along.

00:33So coming in at number 5, it is Kevin Durant.

00:36It already kind of sounded like he was on the block anyway.

00:42Like there was at least a couple of moments in the offseason where I was, well they could

00:47package these picks together and go get this guy.

00:49They could package it and da-da-da-da-da.

00:51And for the Phoenix Suns, this year there's a lot of pressure on them.

00:54We talked about that.

00:55We made the list for teams facing the most pressure this upcoming season.

00:59When you are spending the amount that they are spending and you have these three guys

01:03at the top of your roster, there are going to be high expectations.

01:06And quite frankly last year, they came up extremely short of those.

01:11And so if this is another year where it is starting to kind of not go that way, or not

01:18go their way, excuse me, I think that Phoenix could make a move and try to recoup some of

01:23the stuff that they gave up in a Kevin Durant deal.

01:25And there are a lot of teams who are looking pretty good, who have some draft picks to

01:29move, who might fancy themselves one Kevin Durant away from being a title contender.

01:33And so I think that if Durant and the Suns don't get off to a very good start this year,

01:40I think there could be Kevin Durant on the move.

01:43For this next one, it's not so much that I think he would get traded, but this is more

01:48a perception thing.

01:49I think if this year doesn't go well for Trey Young and the Atlanta Hawks, that I don't

01:54know if Young gets moved out of Atlanta, but I do think he gets moved down a tier or

02:00two in conversations.

02:02I think we have kind of run out of patience in the Trey Young game.

02:06When we tried bringing in DeJounte Murray, it never worked.

02:09It never came close to working.

02:11And so there was that blip there where they made it to the conference finals, and there

02:15was a lot going on against Philadelphia that led them to that point.

02:18But since then, it hasn't looked remotely close to what we saw from that team.

02:24And this year now, there isn't a, oh well there's just this other guy who needs the

02:29ball as my cat jumps in.

02:31You know, there isn't this other guy who's chiming in and taking a lot of the spotlight

02:37or whatever.

02:38I'm forcing that metaphor because there's a cat jumped on me for those who are listening.

02:41But I think that for Trey Young now, this is, and it was before, but it is so clearly

02:47his team now, that if it is another year of mediocrity out in Atlanta and for Trey

02:53Young, and it is another year where he is getting his stats but the team is not playing

02:57winning basketball, then I think he kind of moves down a tier or two in a lot of the discussions

03:04about NBA players.

03:06At three, we already talked about him if you're listening to the full episode, in Players

03:10Who Will Decide the Season, but it's Jimmy Butler.

03:12When Pat Riley comes out and calls out your contract situation in the offseason, pretty

03:19good chance that the seat that you're sitting on is a little bit toasty.

03:24And so I think that, pardon the Miami Heat pun there, but I do think that if Jimmy Butler

03:30wants to stay in Miami, then he and this team have to get off to a very good start.

03:36I think there was a lot of frustration with Jimmy Butler talking some smack when he was

03:40hurt last year, and just with how everything ended in Miami, and we know Pat Riley, little

03:48bit cutthroat, little bit ruthless when it comes to those sorts of decisions, so I think

03:52the pressure is on Jimmy Butler to come up with a big time here.

03:56At two, Darius Garland.

03:59It seems like for now, the situation has settled out in Cleveland, but we saw last year, Garland

04:05got hurt, and this team did well.

04:07And now, you have Donovan Mitchell signing a contract extension, and we know in the NBA

04:12that doesn't necessarily mean he's going to stay there the whole time, but it at least,

04:17I think, moves him down the list of people who might get moved.

04:20And it puts Garland right at the top.

04:22And so if this four-man unit of Allen, Mobley, Garland, and, sorry, Mitchell, is going to

04:29work, it kind of has to work now.

04:32They have, I think, again, run out of runway for this to be a thing, and I think that this

04:37is going to be a year where there's going to be pressure on him to go out and get the

04:41job done.

04:42At number one, it's Brandon Ingram.

04:44This one's tricky, because it feels like if they could have moved him, they would have

04:48by now, but it's a weird contract situation, because no one disagrees that Brandon Ingram

04:55is a talented player, and probably, honestly, from a talent standpoint, a max-level player.

05:00But he also doesn't really seem like a guy who, if you give him the max, he's going to

05:04elevate people around him, and you're going to be fine.

05:07Like, he feels like the max on a bad team.

05:09Which is, it's weird.

05:10So I think there is pressure on him to go out and show that he can mix his talents,

05:19sorry, it sounded like someone was inside, but they're yelling from outside, that he

05:22can mix his talents and be very, very good, and also be a part of a winning basketball

05:28team.

05:29So, I think there's a lot of pressure on Brandon Ingram to show all of that this year.

Could Kevin Durant be on the move? Which NBA Players are on the Hot Seat? | NBA Season Preview

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