Houston, TX — Newly acquired forward Kevin Durant revealed he was surprised when the Phoenix Suns began exploring trade options for him ahead of last season’s NBA trade deadline.
“Initially, I was a little upset because I felt like we built a solid relationship, me and the Phoenix Suns,” Durant said during the Game Plan Sports Business Summit, according to Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic. “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.”
One of those steps, Durant noted, involved ensuring he did not return to the Golden State Warriors. He said business partner and manager Rich Kleiman intervened when the Warriors expressed interest in February. “I heard Golden State was in the mix around the trade deadline, but that’s when Rich came into play. We were able to tell them to kind of hold off on that,” Durant explained.
Phoenix ultimately kept Durant past the deadline, but trade discussions resurfaced in the offseason. “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,” he said. “We knew we would revisit that right around the summertime, and Houston kind of jumped on, and it happened pretty fast from there.”
Durant, 35, averaged 26.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists for the Suns last season.
Source: Hoops Wire
