Kevin Durant on the scrutiny that comes with trade talks
Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant talked about the pressure involved in trade talks back in February after the trade deadline.
Kevin Durant filled in some blanks on the timeline of the Phoenix Suns trading him to the Houston Rockets before the 2025 NBA Draft.
Speaking at the Game Plan Sports Business Summit on Tuesday, Sept. 16, in Los Angeles, Durant addressed being traded, saying the Suns let it be known “around February” he was available.
“Initially, I was a little upset because I felt like we built a solid relationship, me and the Phoenix Suns,” Durant said as CNBC and Boardroom hosted the summit event. “And to hear that from a different party was kind of upsetting, but that’s just the name of the game. So I got over that quickly and was trying to figure out what the next steps were.”
Durant spoke on the idea of teams making huge trades Feb. 1, after learning about the Dallas Mavericks dealing Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers and getting Anthony Davis in return.
“You start seeing stuff like that, as an organization, you might get a little more courage to do some stuff,” he said after Phoenix lost at Portland. “You see another team trade away somebody like that. This got to be the biggest trade I’ve seen since I’ve been in the league or since I’ve been watching the sport. This is insane. So yeah, every other team might get confidence and say (expletive) it, I’ll trade a few of my top players if this ain’t working.”
Durant said during the Sept. 16 event that trade chatter involving the Suns possibly dealing him to Golden State last season was real, and his business partner, Rich Kleiman, helped defuse that idea.
Durant won two NBA championships and back-to-back finals MVPs (2017, 2018) with the Warriors.
“Insane. It’s crazy, crazy.”
Kevin Durant on mega Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade.
“Players are held to a different standard of loyalty and commitment to a program but the organizations don’t get held to that same standard from the outside.”
On teams following suit before Feb.… pic.twitter.com/DekP4eRN6N
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) February 2, 2025
“I heard Golden State was in the mix around the trade deadline, but that’s when Rich came into play, and those relationships that we built around the league and also playing in Golden State helped,” Durant said. “We were able to tell them kind of hold off on that.”
Durant remained in Phoenix, but he missed the final seven games of the 2024-25 regular season with an ankle injury suffered March 30 against the Rockets at PHX Arena. Houston won, 148-109.
Three months later, the Suns dealt Durant to Houston for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and the 10th overall pick in the 2025 draft, who ended up being Duke freshman 7-footer Khaman Maluach.
“Since me being on the market in February when there’s also a trade deadline, people were just kind of seeing how their seasons played out and what they needed for their teams,” Durant said. “We knew we would revisit that right around the summertime, and Houston kind of jumped on, and it happened pretty fast from there.”
Houston is considered a championship contender with Durant, while Phoenix is expected to have a down season without the all-time great. Durant averaged 26.8 points in his 145 games with the Suns, who landed him in a blockbuster deal from Brooklyn before the 2023 trade deadline.
Phoenix never made it past the Western Conference semifinals with Durant. The Suns failed to even make the play-in last season, finishing 36-46 to mark their first losing season since 2019-20, which was the last time they missed the playoffs before last season.
The Rockets and Suns face each other four times this season, with Durant’s first return to Phoenix set for Nov. 24 on Peacock.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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