The 2025-26 NBA season will mark the beginning of a new chapter in Kevin Durant’s career. He will suit up for the fifth team of his career, the Houston Rockets. The blockbuster trade took place coincidentally on the morning of Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers, but it would appear many don’t see it that way.
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It’s safe to say Durant’s two-and-a-half seasons with the Phoenix Suns were a failure. They only won a single playoff series in 2023, and the following season saw them being swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves. To make matters worse, they didn’t even qualify for the Play-In Tournament this past season.
KD aspires to turn over a new leaf in what he reportedly hopes to be the final destination of his career. The timing of the deal raised plenty of eyebrows among fans.
Durant was in the middle of a live interview at Fanatics Fest once the news broke. Shortly after, it was speculated that Durant held off the news of the trade until the day of Game 7. Why would Durant do this? To overshadow the Thunder, the team where he started his career?
The majority of fans don’t understand how trades work in the NBA, but Durant’s former teammate, Draymond Green, does. Green, who played with Durant under the Golden State Warriors’ banner for 3 years, claims to reject the notion that he attempted to take over OKC’s moment.
“They said KD chose for that news to come out on Sunday because he wanted to overshadow the Thunder,” Green said on The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis. “I personally don’t think KD is that type of guy.”
Green’s co-host, former Warriors star Baron Davis, also added some more context for fans who find themselves engulfed in this conspiracy theory.
“A lot of times, these trades just happen,” Davis revealed. “Information travels fast in our sport. The player is the last person to know that they’re getting traded. So him finding out on stage at the festival for Fanatics could possibly be real,” Davis said.
Besides, it would be extremely difficult for Durant to orchestrate the outcome of how the news broke. At 36 years of age, the two-time NBA champion just wants to win. The last thing that would be on his mind is acts of pettiness toward the team that gave him his first opportunity in the NBA.
