Real reason Kevin Durant didn't get traded to Warriors by Suns confirmed

The Phoenix Suns may have traded Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets this offseason - but if you cast your mind back to the deadline when whispers of moving on from the 36-year-old first came out - the Rockets were not the frontrunners. Instead it was the Golden State Warriors who were in the driving seat to be reunited with the player they won a pair of championships with.

In the end they opted to go for Jimmy Butler, and their postseason performances somewhat vindicated that decision. The Warriors are getting older - but with Butler alongside Stephen Curry and Draymond Green - are always going to be a tough out in a series. There were several theories as to why Durant didn't go back to San Francisco, and the player himself has now confirmed why that was.

Durant vetoed the deal to return to the Warriors.

Durant was a recent guest at the Game Plan Business Summit - and during his appearance there - opened up on his eventual departure from The Valley. The future Hall of Famer said that he was "a little upset because I felt like we built a solid relationship, me and the Phoenix Suns." Yet another negative mark against Suns' owner Mat Ishbia after a rocky summer.

Later in the appearance, Durant would confirm that thanks to his pre-existing relationship with the Warriors - and through his agent Rich Kleiman - that they were able to get the Warriors "to kind of hold off on that (trading for him)". If ever you doubted the power of superstars in this league, read that sentence back.

But while the Suns were desperate to add Butler to re-ignite their falter title hopes at that point, Durant did them a favor in waiting and moving onto the Rockets instead. Yes they would have remained in win now mode around Devin Booker, but that could have perhaps meant not buying out Bradley Beal and accepting that a rebuild was necessary.

It's not like what they got from Houston for Durant was an amazing package either, but they did remake their roster around Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and a trio of first round picks in Khaman Maluach, Koby Brea and Rasheer Fleming. The hope now is that second year guys such as Ryan Dunn can also make a leap for the organization to speed up this process.

So while this may have been a happy ending for the Suns, the fact they seem to have annoyed Durant and then let him shut down a trade to the Warriors - which would have led to them getting the player they wanted in Butler - is not a good look. It did bring about change though - and after two plus years of underachieving with Durant and Booker - this can only be viewed as a positive.