Suns’ Kevin Durant breaks silence on trade rumors, calls them ‘lies’

The Phoenix Suns’ first season with their new big three of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal didn’t go as planned, as they were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves. As a result, questions about the team’s future quickly began to arise, and once again, Durant found his name in trade rumors.

The Houston Rockets have reportedly been looking to make a push for Durant, but the Suns have reportedly never seriously engaged in talks with them. Yet Durant is the guy who has to deal with these rumors, and it seems he’s not too happy about it, as he accused the media of creating lies just to keep fans interested in the league during the offseason.

“You could just push the ‘KD wants out’ button every time you want attention. Yeah, it’s a button. What’s going to make people move this time? Besides ‘Oh, the sidekick is leaving again.’ That story is always going to hit home. It’s hard not to hear what they have to say about you. Because especially when you can just make up lies and everyone will believe you. So when someone says, ‘Phoenix wants out of the KD business,’ I’m sitting there wondering where that came from?”

“It bothers me that people lie like that and the public doesn’t care about the headlines. It saddens me when people believe lies and make up bullshit. At this point, it’s more serious for me. I can’t control it. I feel for people. It’s a bad habit to have when you believe anything, first of all. You just have to believe what you see on TV. And then it’s another bad habit when you just lie.” – Kevin Durant, Yahoo! Sports

Kevin Durant denies recent trade rumors

The Suns didn’t trade Durant until midway through the 2022-23 campaign, so it would have been quite surprising if they turned around after a disappointing campaign and immediately parted ways with him. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Rockets weren’t interested in him, but it never seemed likely that Phoenix would give up on this team so quickly.

The good news is that the Suns’ roster is still incredibly talented. Durant, Booker, and Beal are all All-Stars; they just need time to figure out how to succeed together on the court. Durant has made it clear that he has no desire to leave Phoenix after just a season and a half, which should put those rumors to rest for good.

Durant will focus on winning the 2024 Summer Olympics with Team USA for now, but once that’s over, he’ll focus on taking the Suns to the next level next season. He’s not going to be traded anytime soon, and as KD notes here, if there are any trade rumors surrounding him in the future, they’re not his doing.