Suns owner emphatically shoots down Kevin Durant trade rumors

The first major blockbuster trade of the offseason just went down on Tuesday night with the New York Knicks acquiring Mikal Bridges in a deal with the Brooklyn Nets. The Knicks completed the "Nova Knicks" by acquiring Bridges, and the Nets finally picked a direction, choosing to enter a much-needed rebuild by acquiring a slew of draft picks from New York.

There was a second deal made by the Nets which saw them trade away Phoenix Suns draft picks that they had acquired from the trade that sent Kevin Durant to Phoenix in exchange for a pair of their own firsts so they could properly rebuild. The Nets' motivation to get that done is clear, but why would the Houston Rockets willingly part with draft picks that look way more valuable?

It turns out, Houston reportedly wanted to do this deal because they're interested in acquiring Kevin Durant from the Suns, and Phoenix would find its own picks more intriguing than Brooklyn's.

Kevin Durant's name is on the trade block now, but it takes two to tango. At least publicly, the Suns are showing no interest in trading Durant. Suns owner Matt Ishbia even said so himself.

Suns owner shoots down the possibility of another Kevin Durant trade

Ishbia is loving the rumors swirling around. While he acknowledges that some of them are true, he says that any rumor involving the Suns trading Durant away can safely be disputed.

Now, Ishbia has no reason to say otherwise. Even if Durant wanted out or if the Suns wanted to trade him, it wouldn't help Phoenix to say that anyone was looking for a change. The Suns would lose all leverage in any talks if that were the case. If I were him I certainly would say how committed I am to KD and how much KD loves my team even if one or both sides wanted a fresh start.

It'll be interesting to find out if Ishbia is telling the truth here. The Suns are in a brutal spot with limited assets and flexibility to get better after winning just 49 games in the regular season and getting swept in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Holding onto Durant makes sense, but the Suns could be setting themselves up for another disappointing year, and as Durant gets older, his value only diminishes.