Kevin Durant’s name was constantly mentioned before last week’s trade deadline, as he had being offered to be a part of a trade that would take him back to Golden State. However, the veteran forward wanted to stay put in Phoenix, and wasn’t too fond about all the speculation surrounding his future.
After Monday’s training session, the 15-time All-Star simply shrugged off the rumors about him. “It’s just part of the business,” KD said. “Everybody’s bought and sold in this league. Anybody can be up for auction, so I understand that. It’s just about getting back on the court and trying to go out and play the game that I love.”
By the end of the deadline, the Suns ended up having a relatively quiet market, having sent out Jusuf Nurkic to the Hornets and then keeping the rest of their locker room intact. The team decided to keep going forward with their big three comprised of Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.
NBA insiders are predicting that Kevin Durant will demand a trade away from Phoenix over the summer as he was “really frustrated” about being included in trade talks at the deadline.
Houston Rockets will have the most financial flexibility on the trade market this summer.
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Up to this point, the Arizona club are tied with the Sacramento Kings for ninth place in the Western Conference with a 26-26 record. The team’s general manager James Jones explained why he was looking out for trades last week. “It always gets noisy when you’re not winning,” he shared. “And we’re not winning.”
Phoenix have posted a disastrous 2-11 mark when their 36-year-old superstar is out of the lineup, which makes it strange that the team was looking to trade him out. However, the 36-year-old recently sat out the squad’s last three matches due to a sprained ankle, but expects to be back this Tuesday night.
Despite his age, the future Hall of Famer is still one of the NBA’s best scorers, averaging 26.9 points on 52.4% shooting. Durant continues to be under contract with the Suns next season and wishes to play out his deal.
“It’s not a bad thing that people around the league want me to play for them,” the veteran said on Monday. “It’s not a bad thing my organization here is fighting off people to keep me on the team or even dangle me in a trade. It’s part of being in high demand.”
