Phoenix

Suns

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, Durant became the first player to win four gold medals in the history of men’s Olympic basketball. He certainly added to his case for being the greatest Team USA basketball player ever, since he became the all-time leading scorer in Team USA history. He’s one of the greatest scorers in NBA history, and that has translated to the international stage as well. Now, he’ll have some time off before he starts another season in Phoenix.

Durant, dealing with a strained calf during the United States’ pre-Olympic training camp, has come off the bench in the team’s five games in Paris. That will reportedly change on Saturday, with Charania reporting that KD’s expected to replace Jrue Holiday in the starting lineup. While Holiday’s defense has been significant, Durant gives the starting lineup an additional scoring punch, and he isn’t a slouch defensively. France changed its starting lineup ahead of the quarterfinal round, with Isaia Cordinier and Guershon Yabusele replacing Evan Fournier and Rudy Gobert, and the moves have paid off for the hosts.

Booker did most of his work in the first half while scoring efficiently from beyond the arc. Team USA took its foot off the gas and rested its starters in the second half after building up a lead. Booker has only fallen short of double digits once during the tournament and has proved to be one of his team’s most reliable options on offense.

Washington has spent time with both the Rockets and Bucks through his first two years in the league, and now he’ll get another fresh start. Phoenix doesn’t have a ton of depth at point guard, but Washington will still likely spend most of next season in the G-League with the brand new Valley Suns.

On Friday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Suns were acquiring Liddell from the Pelicans in exchange for David Roddy, with the transaction becoming official on Monday. The move was financially motivated for Phoenix, as acquiring Liddell got the team some salary relief. However, with Tyus Jones being signed, the Suns are up to 16 players on standard contracts, and the expectation is that Liddell is unlikely to remain with the team. According to Gambadoro, Roddy would likely meet a similar fate had he not been traded. This will not impact fantasy basketball, as Liddell was not a factor with the Pelicans last season.

Durant knocked down 8-of-9 shots and was lethal from beyond the arc, hitting all five of his three-point attempts. Durant also hit both of his free throws to cap off a superb shooting performance. Not too shabby for a guy who’s been out of action due to a calf injury, but there’s a reason KD is the USA’s all-time leading Olympic scorer.

Durant has been sidelined throughout the preseason of the Olympic Games, but he’ll be back in action for the first matchup in Paris against Nikola Jokic and Serbia. His playing time should ramp up as the games go on.

Phoenix lacked a true point guard last season, and Jones will provide them with a reliable, efficient playmaker. He was a fantasy stud in Washington last year, and in a statement that he made following the announcement, he expects to start. He won’t be a ball dominant point guard for the Suns, but he should play enough to have standard league value. If he is starting, Grayson Allen will likely be pushed to the bench despite having an excellent season.

Liddell will be traded for the second time this summer. He was sent to Atlanta as part of the transaction headlined by the Pelicans’ acquisition of Dejounte Murray. While the 2022 second-round pick did play well at the NBA 2K25 Summer League earlier in July, he’s unlikely to get the opportunities needed to be fantasy-relevant in Phoenix.

Injured while ramping up in preparation for the United States’ pre-Olympic training camp, Durant has not played in any of the exhibitions or participated in a full-contact practice. That’s expected to change on Thursday, as the team will scrimmage before Sunday’s opener against Serbia. “The plan is for him to get in the scrimmage and see how he handles that,” United States head coach Steve Kerr said, according to ESPN. “He looked good (Wednesday) and he did everything and got a lot of shots up and told me he’s feeling pretty good.” Adding the US national team’s all-time leading point scorer will undoubtedly aid in the quest for a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal. The question is who will fall out of the rotation, as the Americans went ten deep in Monday’s exhibition finale against Germany.