Kevin Durant didn’t say much in the immediate aftermath.
But perhaps his smile — the grin that slowly spread across his face — said it all.
Durant was on stage at Fanatics Fest in New York City on Sunday when the news broke that the Suns planned to trade him to the Rockets, and the audience roared once the deal was announced.
When asked for his initial reaction, though, Durant just said, “We’re gonna see, man. We’re gonna see.”
He later expanded on his thoughts during a separate interview with FanDuel TV’s Kay Adams, saying that he had an idea about the trade but he didn’t know “exactly when it was gonna happen.”
“Being a part of the Houston Rockets, I’m looking forward to it,” Durant told Adams. “Crazy, crazy last couple of weeks, and I’m glad it’s over with.”
Durant called it “fitting” that the trade happened while he was at Fanatics Fest because of the atmosphere to celebrate sports, and he also revealed that he “most definitely” played a role in helping select his destination.
He reportedly preferred a deal to either the Rockets, the Heat or the Spurs after his second full season with the Suns ended with a missed playoff appearance — despite Durant averaging 26.6 points per game and playing alongside Devin Booker and Bradley Beal to form, on paper, a Big 3 entering the season.
“I just felt like they wanted me to go,” Durant told Adams when asked what he’d say to heartbroken Phoenix fans. “… They got what they wanted, and I got what I wanted.”
And he’ll now get to join a Rockets team that secured the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference during the 2024-25 campaign before falling to the Warriors, and while they parted with Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 pick in this week’s draft and five second-round picks to land the 36-year-old, they still return promising core players and now add one of the league’s superstars who told Adams he felt like he’d be a good fit with Houston.
“When people can just hang your career in your balance like that and just choose what they want to do with your career, it’s a nerve-wracking feeling,” Durant told Adams. “But being able to kinda dictate when you want to do and being with a team that values you, I’m looking forward to it.”