Kevin Durant Responds to Suns Owner's Regret Over Trade

NBA star Kevin Durant responded with a sarcastic social media post after Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia stated that acquiring Durant was a mistake. Ishbia, who purchased a majority stake in the Suns in February 2023, detailed his perspective on the trade in a recent interview.

Durant, on X, reshared a story containing Ishbia's comments and posted, “#blameKD even though KD stayed on top of his game at 36 and got u back this “culture” you love so much,” adding, “Aye, Matthew acts like I got arrested for a DUI or sumn. Back to threads.”

The Suns traded for Durant from the Brooklyn Nets at the 2023 trade deadline, sending Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four unprotected first-round picks, and a 2028 first-round pick swap to Brooklyn. Durant played two-plus seasons in Phoenix, averaging 26.8 points per game over 145 regular-season appearances. During his tenure, the Suns won only one playoff series and failed to make the playoffs in 2025, leading to his trade to Houston that summer.

“The team was, I think, the eight or nine seed when I bought the team, and we had some good young players,” Ishbia told CNBC. “Can we get over the top? And I basically was told like, ‘Hey, as an owner, stay out of it and give them some money.’ And so I said, ‘Hey, listen, we’ll go into the luxury tax. Go do whatever it takes to try to win a championship.’ And so we did that. But it was more going and getting Kevin Durant… that was not aligned with my vision.”

Ishbia stated that after the 2025 season, he decided to trade Durant, bring in his own general manager and coach, and become personally involved in shaping the organization's culture. The Suns subsequently traded Durant to Houston that July for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, one first-round pick, and five second-rounders. The team finished the 2025-26 season with a 45-37 record, advanced through the play-in tournament, but were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“I’m not saying it’s Kevin Durant or not Kevin Durant,” Ishbia clarified. “What it is is we have to define what we’re about in Phoenix and then stick with it and believe in our vision and our path. And I didn’t do that at the beginning. I kind of just threw money at the problem. Now I got personally involved with every decision, from the 14th man on the roster to the first man on the roster, every aspect of it, fan experience, players, coaches. I’m putting my heart and soul into it.”

Durant and the Houston Rockets finished the 2025-26 season with a 52-30 record and were the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference. They were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in six games by the Los Angeles Lakers.

Reflecting on his time in Phoenix in August, Durant mentioned on his Boardroom platform, “I always had fun out there. I don’t want to undercut my time in Phoenix because I feel like we have some great moments on the court. But I feel as though we were an older group who kind of stuck in our ways as veterans, and veterans kind of like to do their own thing a lot. When you’re a younger group, it’s more of a tight-knit group. They’re all learning together, it’s kind of like a college feel, and I think that’s the difference.”