Kevin Durant finally addresses rumors Suns wanted to trade him

The Phoenix Suns surprised many at the trade deadline by pivoting from going hard after Jimmy Butler, to instead seemingly making Kevin Durant available to the highest bidder. This surprised many - and although these were only ever rumors - they came from reputable sources throughout the league.

The change in direction was strange, although perhaps not surprising. The Suns are rightly never going to deal Devin Booker - at least not unless he formally asks to be moved which is the worst case scenario in The Valley right now - while Bradley Beal has that pesky no-trade clause. Which left dealing Durant as the only way to possibly get Butler - or if not that - improve in other ways.

Durant has finally addressed those unexpected trade rumors.

The 36-year-old was speaking at media availability after practice on Monday, and he was measured in his response as he fielded questions about those rumors as the hours ticked by until the deadline passed. Rather than come out firing having asked to be traded to Phoenix from the Brooklyn Nets in the past, Durant cut a figure who instead understood the situation the Suns have found themselves.

"I didn't see it coming (being made available for trade if the right offer came along), but the organization just gotta do what they gotta do for the betterment of their organization. Even if I'm blindsided or not, it doesn't matter".

This is an interesting way to approach the situation for a number of reasons, and it begins with the fact that is not how star players generally react to the news. Maybe when speaking to the media, but the landscape of the league has changed a lot since LeBron James decided he wanted to play for the Miami Heat over a decade ago.

Now it is the stars who decide where they want to go - just like Durant did before in asking the Nets to trade him to Phoenix - but that is not the response of a superstar who believes they hold all the power here. That's likely because of Durant's advancing age, his place in the Suns' hierarchy and the Luka Doncic deal that shook up the world.

He can't make trade demands like he used to because he's closer to 40 than 30, and so the market for his services has shrunk. Not only that, but Devin Booker is the star in The Valley and so Durant knows the franchise is always going to do right by him and try and put the best group around Booker to win that it can. Whether that includes Durant or not.

The Doncic piece is more just an acceptance that if 25-year-old generational talents can be moved at a moment's notice, then what hope does Durant have really. He's no longer in position to call the shots, although also worth noting is the fact he did not seem open to going back to the Golden State Warriors. The team that was rumored to be after him the most, but who ended up with Butler.

When one reporter mentioned to Durant that he had been through this in the past, he quickly - and with a smirk on his face - pointed out that he "hadn't been through this, before". Which is true, he chose to join the Warriors and Nets, and asked to be traded to the Suns. This level of speculation and potentially moving against his will is new to him, and he was honest about that too.

"My teammates, my coaches, they not the ones that's having these conversations (about trading him), it's usually the front office and the people that I don't really see as much... I can lock in on the task at hand and focus on the team. Whoever call me and tell me I need to go, then I gotta go. Like I said I wanted to stay here and figure this thing out and see this thing through".

Durant then seems eager to both acknowledge he was available for trade - seemingly late in the day - but was more than happy to stay with the Suns and see this experiment through. One that hasn't gone to plan yet, and if anything is only going to throw up new and more difficult Durant-centric questions in the offseason. This was a measured, veteran's reponse to these rumors.