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After Kevin Durant expressed his commitment to staying with the Suns for the rest of the season and not returning to the Warriors, Golden State owner Joe Lacob shared his thoughts on the trade deadline scenario. In an appearance on The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis, Durant shared his reasoning behind being against the trade.
“I didn’t want to move, and I get why you want to trade me. Simple fact, that’s business, but for me looking at it… we can play the season out, and if that's the decision you want to make in the offseason, then we figure it out,” Durant said.
Lacob, in an appearance on The TK Show, spoke about Durant not wanting to join the Warriors at the trade deadline.
“Well, I heard that obviously, but you know Jimmy Butler also said he didn’t want to be part of the Warriors. I think you have to take [it] with a grain of salt when you hear something,” Lacob said. “Now when you heard it directly from Mr. Durant, what he said whatever he said, I guess that’s legit. It’s coming from the horse's mouth. There’s always usually a motive for these things, somebody wants to get paid or not paid.
Lacob continued, “Somebody wants to influence somebody to trade them to a certain place. It doesn’t always mean it’s black and white. Maybe someone like Kevin said he didn’t want to be traded in the middle of the season. He’s never been traded right? He’s always been a free agent, he decided his own fate. So I understand that with respect to him.”
Durant expressed that he didn’t want to disrupt either team mid-season, especially with the storylines that would come with a potential return to the Warriors. He also felt the trade didn’t make sense, considering how much the Warriors would need to give up to acquire him.
The only error Lacob made was claiming Durant had never been traded. In reality, Durant was traded to the Suns during the 2023 season in February which was a shocking but expected conclusion to his time with the Brooklyn Nets after Kyrie Irving was traded to the Dallas Mavericks.
