Trade rumors involving Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns have been swirling around all offseason, but the perennial NBA All-Star is done hearing about them.
It all began at the 2024 NBA Draft when ESPN reported the Houston Rockets were trying to get Durant away from Phoenix via trade after they acquired multiple draft picks in a deal with the Brooklyn Nets.
There was also ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith saying on his show, “First Take,” that the Suns want out of Durant’s contract.
Kevin Durant of the Suns reacts during the Western Conference playoffs at Footprint Center on April 28, 2024, in Phoenix, Arizona. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
But a recent interview with Yahoo Sports has Durant squashing all those rumors.
“You could just press the ‘KD want to leave’ button anytime you want some attention,” Durant said to the outlet while training with Team USA basketball ahead of the Paris Olympics.
“Yes, it’s a button. What else is gonna get people around this time? Besides, ‘Oh, the journeyman is leaving again.’ That story is always gonna hit.”
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Durant added that rumors of the Suns wanting to trade him were “lies,” and it was hard to ignore what he’s been seeing this offseason from various outlets.
“For somebody to say, ‘Phoenix wants to get out of the KD [business],’ I’m sitting here like, ‘Where is this coming from?’” he said. “It bothers me that people lie like that and that the audience eats up the headline. I get sad when people buy into lies and just make up s—.”
Suns forward Kevin Durant drives against Dallas Mavericks forward Tim Hardaway Jr. at Footprint Center in Phoenix on Dec. 25, 2023. (Joe Camporeale-USA Today Sports)
As you can see, Durant has been dealing with trade rumors no matter where he’s been in his career for quite some time. Even Suns GM James Jones reiterated it in his comments following the first night of the Draft.
“It’s the question, it’s the topic of discussion, it’s the stuff that gets clicks that everyone wants to talk about,” he said, via AZ Central.
Durant still has two seasons left on his Suns contract, which pays him on average about $48.55 million annually.
And while he’s currently focused on getting another gold medal with Team USA, Durant still wants NBA titles, and he’s hoping it comes with the Suns – a team that didn’t reach its full potential last season after getting swept by the eventual Western Conference-champion Minnesota Timeberwolves in the first round of the playoffs.
“Of course, I want to win the championship. Of course. I want to play well every game, like I don’t even have to talk about that type of stuff,” Durant said, via Yahoo.
Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns on March 5, 2023, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. (Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)
Durant will be entering his 17th NBA season next year at 36 years old. He averaged 27.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5 assists in 75 games for Phoenix last year.
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