Kevin Durant says the Dallas Mavericks’ decision to trade Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers gave teams across the league confidence to take their own risks.

Speaking at the Game Plan Sports Business Summit in Los Angeles, Kevin Durant reflected on the February blockbuster that sent Luka Dončić to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis. The Houston Rockets star described it as the most stunning trade he has ever seen.

“You start seeing stuff like that, as an organization, you might get a little more courage to do some stuff,” Durant said. “You see another team trade away somebody like that. This got to be the biggest trade I’ve seen since I’ve been in the league or since I’ve been watching the sport. This is insane. So yeah, every other team might get confidence and say (expletive) it, I’ll trade a few of my top players if this ain’t working.”

The remarks carried extra weight given Durant’s own experience this year. Just months after the Dončić deal reshaped the Western Conference, the Phoenix Suns traded him to Houston in June for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and the No. 10 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, later used on Duke freshman Khaman Maluach.

Durant acknowledged that his availability on the market stretched back to February, right around the time the Mavericks made their move with the Lakers.

“Initially, I was a little upset because I felt like we built a solid relationship, me and the Phoenix Suns,” Durant said. “And to hear that from a different party was kind of upsetting, but that’s just the name of the game. So I got over that quickly and was trying to figure out what the next steps were.”

He also confirmed reports that the Golden State Warriors explored reacquiring him before the deadline. Durant credited his business partner, Rich Kleiman, with helping stop that idea from moving forward.

“I heard Golden State was in the mix around the trade deadline, but that’s when Rich came into play, and those relationships that we built around the league and also playing in Golden State helped,” Durant said. “We were able to tell them kind of hold off on that.”

The two-time Finals MVP played 145 games with Phoenix, averaging 26.8 points. But his tenure ended with disappointment: the Suns never advanced beyond the Western Conference semifinals and missed the postseason entirely last season at 36-46. Durant missed the final seven games after suffering an ankle injury against Houston on March 30.

“Since me being on the market in February when there’s also a trade deadline, people were just kind of seeing how their seasons played out and what they needed for their teams,” Durant said. “We knew we would revisit that right around the summertime, and Houston kind of jumped on, and it happened pretty fast from there.”

Now, the Rockets are widely viewed as contenders with Durant joining a roster anchored by young talent. Houston opens the regular season on Oct. 21 against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a road matchup.