Kevin Durant talking about the scrutiny that comes with trade talks
Durant talks about the pressure involved in trade talks back in February after the trade deadline
The 2025 NBA trade deadline had passed, and Kevin Durant was sitting with a towel covering the top of his head, ears tucked inside the top of a gray Phoenix Suns t-shirt with purple lettering.
He was answering questions from the media for the first time after the Suns entertained offers for him before the deadline.
Durant didn’t blink nor duck – and knew this was going to be a hot topic of conversation going forward.
“That’s probably the most frustrating part about being in trade talks is that microscope is going to be solely on me the rest of the season,” Durant said Feb. 10.
The microscope is way more magnified now as the end of Durant era seems imminent.
League sources have informed The Arizona Republic that Durant will be traded in “the coming days” as early as next week.
The Suns acquired Durant from Brooklyn and sent Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and four first-round picks to the Nets in a blockbuster deal before the 2023 trade deadline.
Less than three years later, they’re looking to trade Durant, who has one year left on his four-year, $194-million deal. A handful of teams are in contention for him with the Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves being two of them, sources informed The Republic.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Friday, June 13, that the Rockets, T-Wolves and Miami Heat are the current front-runners.
A league source informed The Republic the Rockets would be the ideal landing spot for Durant, saying they need a “go-to guy” in the fourth quarter and have draft picks and young players to offer the Suns in return.
Houston finished with the second-best record in the Western Conference, but the seventh-seeded Golden State Warriors eliminated them in the first round of the 2025 playoffs.
Rockets coach Ime Udoka also has a relationship with Durant. Udoka was an assistant in Brooklyn in the 2020-21 season when Durant was with the Nets.
“His day-to-day approach is unlike anybody I’ve been around or seen.”
Rockets coach Ime Udoka on Kevin Durant. Was an assistant in Brooklyn when Durant was there.
“With all the accolades he still has a chip, is grumpy as hell every other day, but he holds himself to a high… pic.twitter.com/VnBeBoNesW
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) March 31, 2025
Durant is also close friends with Rockets assistant Royal Ivey. They both played at the University of Texas and were teammates at Oklahoma City.
Durant, 36, averaged a team-high 26.6 points in his second full season with the Suns. The two-time finals MVP and 15-time All-Star reached 30,000 career points Feb. 11 against the Memphis Grizzlies, less than a week after the 2025 trade deadline.
Now it seems imminent the Suns are going to move forward without Durant. They would move Bradley Beal instead, but Beal has a no-trade clause.
Devin Booker is the team’s franchise player. He’s not only due to a two-year extension for $150 million, but Booker provided input during Phoenix’s coaching search that ended with the hiring of Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Jordan Ott.
So, Durant is the biggest asset the Suns can move.
After a 36-win season that led to the firing of Mike Budenholzer after one year, Suns team owner Mat Ishbia said changes were coming.
The biggest one is in motion to go down “in the coming days.”
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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