The Phoenix Suns dealt Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets on Sunday for an all-time bad haul. He turns 37 next season, so the lowball offers are understandable. But Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 pick and five second-round picks is hardly enough to justify trading a 15-time All-Star like Durant.

Houston immediately elevates its 2026 title odds without sacrificing much of anything important. While there's value in a top-10 pick, the Suns actually need to select and develop the right player before mounting any sort of victory lap. Green has upside, but he's a deeply flawed guard and a complicated fit next to Devin Booker. We all respect Dillon Brooks' defensive spark, but he's a replacement-level role player on most days.

Phoenix has not saved money nor improved its future trade capabilities by much. The Suns needed to change something, but without Durant, the roster looks awfully bleak — even worse than it did 24 hours ago. Here are a few more cuts Mat Ishbia and the front office must consider in the coming weeks.

Cody Martin split last season between Charlotte and Phoenix, averaging 6.8 points and 2.0 assists on .418/.285/.705 splits in 22.1 minutes. Let's just say the numbers were worse when isolating his 14-game Suns tenure.

Phoenix's wing depth is pretty dire right now, but it's difficult to muster much faith in Martin, who hasn't been a winning player since 2022. The jumper isn't falling. He's a solid athlete at 6-foot-5, but Martin's defense is more theoretical than actual. He can heat up for the occasional stretch of standout shot-making, but not unlike his brother in Dallas, Cody spends far too much time in a slump and hurting his team's offensive process.

On an expiring $8.7 million contract, Martin is an easy trade chip for Phoenix. He doesn't offer much value in a vacuum, but package him as salary filler with a couple second-round picks, and the Suns should be able to flip Martin for a more dependable contributor on the wing. Trading him to a team looking to shed money or to simply tank is a no-brainer.

Grayson Allen is still a good, productive off-guard who can give Phoenix solid minutes in the backcourt, but the Suns ran headlong into a logjam with the KD trade. In addition to Devin Booker and Bradley Beal on max contracts, Phoenix is now dolling out north of $30 million to Jalen Green. With Phoenix committing to the Booker-Green backcourt, for better or worse, there will be diminishing returns on Allen's average annual salary of $17.5 million.

Under contract through 2028 at an increasingly reasonable number, Allen should fetch plenty of suitors on the trade market. He's a knockdown shooter with solid connective playmaking chops and an appetite for mucking up the game, sometimes a little too much. Allen can change the tone and complexion of a game with his hustle. He has six straight seasons of shooting 39 percent or better from 3-point range on his résumé. If not 3-and-D, Allen leans heavy on the 3 and gives the impression of value on D, even if he's not an on-ball stopper.

The Suns need to flip Allen for frontcourt depth if at all possible. Ideally a forward or a big man who can guard in a variety of schemes and give Phoenix a bit more roster balance. Allen may very well be better than Green, but that's now how the Suns are approaching things right now. And thus, he will end up in trade rumors.

Phoenix is expected to explore Bradley Beal trades after the KD departure. The Suns made their best effort to trade Beal at the deadline last season, but his gaudy contract (in addition to a no-trade clause) made it virtually impossible to find a taker. I'm not sure that will change this summer, with Beal still under contract through the 2026-27 season with a player option for $57.1 million.

Still, there are other ways to cut ties with Beal. Suns insider John Gambadoro says Phoenix will either trade Beal or buy him out of his contract, allowing him to join a contender on a minimum deal.

Beal is probably better than his reputation suggests at this point, but there's no incentive for Phoenix to keep him around. Buying out Beal's contract won't save them any money, but it does allow the Suns to reshuffle the deck a bit and open up a roster spot. The future is now built around Devin Booker and Jalen Green. For better or worse, Phoenix is about to put all its eggs in that basket. That means showing Beal the door, by any means necessary.

It's difficult to chart a path to contention for Phoenix at this point. The Suns essentially turned Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and four first-round picks into 28 months of KD, a bunch of losses, and a couple role players along with the No. 10 pick. The only more catastrophic move was emptying what remain of their asset stores for Beal, a bad basketball fit with far too many injury red flags. Now, Phoenix can turn the page and move forward.