Newly acquired Houston Rockets All-Star forward Kevin Durant has weighed in on his separation from the Phoenix Suns earlier this summer.
Durant, the centerpiece of the NBA’s first-ever seven-team trade in the Houston deal, joins a club hot off a 52-30 run in 2024-25. He’s looking to rebound with his latest franchise, after a chemistry-challenged stint with Phoenix ended in a 36-46 run and a lottery pick.
While fielding questions at Los Angeles’ Game Plan Sports Business Summit recently, Durant looked back on the moment he found out Phoenix was exploring possible trade frameworks to get rid of him at the 2024-25 deadline, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.
Durant was ‘a little upset’ with the Suns front office
“Initially, I was a little upset because I felt like we built a solid relationship, me and the Phoenix Suns,” Durant said. “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.”
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The 6-foot-11 University of Texas at Austin product, now days away from turning 37, had a solid individual year with the lottery-bound Phoenix Suns in 2024-25.
Maybe he’s not quite the impact player he was during his absolute prime with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors, but he remains one of the league’s best three-level scorers, and should thrive in Houston with more depth and talent than he’s had in years. Across 62 healthy contests last season, Durant averaged 26.6 points while slashing .527/.430/.839, 6.0 boards, 4.2 assists, 1.2 blocks and 0.8 steals a night.
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Before trading for another Hall of Fame forward in Jimmy Butler, the Warriors were looking at a possible Durant reunion. He had, after, helped Golden State reach three straight NBA Finals and win two, as the team’s unquestioned top player — above two-time MVP point guard Stephen Curry, five-time All-Star wing Klay Thompson and nine-time All-Defensive Team forward Draymond Green.
“I heard Golden State was in the mix around the trade deadline, but that’s when Rich [Kleiman, Durant’s business partner] 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.”
Phoenix ultimately held onto Durant — which did nothing to stop the bleeding, as the Suns couldn’t even make the play-in tournament this past season.
“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.”
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