Suns' Kevin Durant comments on NBA trade rumors: 'Just part of the business, man'

Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant discussed the trade rumors that swirled around him for most of the last few weeks, in the lead up to last week's trade deadline.

"It’s just part of the business, man," Durant said about the rumors, according to Gerald Bourget of PHNX Sports, "Everybody’s bought and sold in this league, everybody can be up for auction. So I understand that. It’s just about getting back on the court and trying to play the game that I love."

Durant was the subject of a number of high-level talks between the Suns, Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat in the leadup to the deadline, according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst. These talks largely happened without Durant's knowledge, until near the end of those discussions, at which point they started to leak into the media.

During that time, Warriors stars Steph Curry and Draymond Green talked to Durant about a possible reunion, both gauging the interest in and trying to convince Durant to rejoin the team after his 2019 departure.

Durant told Curry he wasn't interested in a move, but that didn't stop talks from progressing. Making matters worse, Durant and his agent were less than thrilled when they learned that the trade talks had been happening without his knowledge, and even the Suns admitted they should have included Durant's business partner Rich Kleiman in any sort of talks about his future.

This led to some pretty significant concerns that Durant could return to Phoenix a profoundly unhappy player, and someone who could very easily make their current struggles exponentially worse.

The Suns are facing a tough battle to stay in the playoff field; they sit 10th in the West currently, level with the Warriors and Sacramento Kings, in a scenario where one of those three teams won't make the cut for the play-in tournament. If Durant is at all distracted, that slide out of the postseason is very, very possible

However, Durant's comments on Monday should help ease those concerns. If he is unhappy with the fact he was being shopped around, it doesn't seem like he's going to let that impact his play as he returns from an ankle injury.

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