Kevin Durant addresses trade demand heading into Nets training camp

Kevin Durant has spoken.

The Nets All-Star who wanted out of Brooklyn, with Phoenix and Miami atop his trade wish list, but wound staying pat addressed the media for the first time Monday.

"There was a lot of uncertainty around our team last year," Durant said during Brooklyn's media day. "I committed to this organization for four years last summer with that idea we were going to play with that group. Then we kind of went on that little run to that second round. I felt like another year of that, us being healthy, we were building something towards the future. Then as the season went on, you saw what happened with our season."

The Nets lost to the eventual NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks in the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals that went seven games.

Brooklyn returned to the playoffs despite Kyrie Irving missing several games due to COVID protocols in New York and James Harden being traded to Philadelphia, but got swept by the Celtics in the first round.

So Durant, who signed a four-year extension for $198 million, requested a trade on the first day of free agency this summer. The Suns and Heat were his first two choices, but he and the Nets eventually agreed to move forward together.

"I'm getting older," Durant later said. "I wanna be in a place that's stable and try to build a championship culture. I had some doubts about that. I voiced them to (Nets team owner Joe Tsai). We moved forward from there. I mind, I like what we did with (Nets General Manager Sean Marks) put together with the team. I knew with all the adversity that we hit and the failures that we hit as a team last year, guys are going to be better and get better and be better."

Durant talked with Nets coach Steve Nash and Marks, which helped him find comfort in staying with Brooklyn.

"We came to a mutual agreement that we should keep moving forward," Durant added.

The Nets open the season Oct. 19 against New Orleans at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kevin Durant addresses trade demand heading into Nets training camp