Report: Kevin Durant 'Not Happy' with Trade Rumors; 'Reasonable' to Expect Suns Split

The inconsistent Phoenix Suns didn't drastically change their roster ahead of Thursday's trade deadline despite no shortage of rumors. Now they have to play out the rest of the season with a reportedly disgruntled Kevin Durant.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst discussed the Durant situation on his Hoop Collective podcast (1:50 mark) and said the future Hall of Famer was "not happy" to be included in trade rumors (h/t RealGM).

"The prevailing thing from the trade deadline was what didn't happen, which was Kevin Durant stayed put," Windhorst said. "He was not happy he was put into trade talks. I think it's unpredictable what will happen for the next few months because it's the nature of the sport, but I think right now it is reasonable to forecast that Durant will be breaking up with the Suns in the summer. He didn't break up with them today, but it doesn't look for the long-term forecast because he was really frustrated.

"I spent a long time today on the phone with people involved with this situation. People from Miami. People from Golden State. People from Phoenix. Other people. I would just say that the biggest thing Kevin Durant was upset about, I think, not knowing he was involved in trade talks.

"Generically, a star player of his level likes to be involved in trade talks. That was an issue. The thing about it was the Suns ended up not getting anything."

ESPN's Shams Charania reported that Durant was "blindsided" by his name being in the rumors, further underscoring the notion he was not included as a part of any discussions:

Phoenix was linked to Jimmy Butler throughout much of the lead up to Thursday's deadline, and Charania and Windhorst reported the Suns, Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat were close to a deal that would have sent Butler to Phoenix and Durant to Golden State.

However, they noted that Durant made it clear he didn't want to return to the Warriors despite winning two championships there earlier in his career.

The Suns instead traded Jusuf Nurkić and a 2026 first-round draft pick to the Charlotte Hornets for Cody Martin, Vasilije Micić and a 2026 second-round draft pick.

One issue for the Suns all along in trade talks was the difficulty in getting rid of Bradley Beal, who has a no-trade clause in a contract that will pay him $53.7 million in base salary next season before a $57.1 million player option in 2026-27. NBA insider Jake Fischer had reported he wanted to stay in Phoenix.

So the Suns look largely the same at this point, with plenty of question marks coming out of the deadline, not the least of which is about Durant's future. He is signed through just the 2025-26 campaign and could be looking for a way out after the playoffs.