After months of speculation, the Kevin Durant trade saga has come to an end. The Phoenix Suns traded the All-NBA forward to the Houston Rockets for a package that included Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the tenth pick in the 2025 draft, and multiple second -round picks.
Houston and Durant have had mutual interest for a while, and the star forward had the Rockets on his list of preferred destinations. Now, Durant joins a team that is coming off a 52-win season and its first playoff appearance since 2020.
The Houston Rockets aced the Kevin Durant trade
Throughout this whole saga, it was clear that Rockets general manager Rafael Stone was not going to be desperate. Houston was firm in its stance that it wouldn’t give up any of its core young players: Thompson, Sengun, Jabari Smith, Tari Eason, Reed Sheppard, and Cam Whitmore. The Rockets gave up none of them.
Durant may be heading into his 19th season, but he is still playing elite basketball. Durant is coming off a season where he averaged 27 PPG on 53 percent shooting and 43% from three-point range. He has been one of the NBA’s most consistent and efficient bucket getters from the perimeter and is exactly what the Rockets need.
His presence as a scorer will open up the floor for Thompson and Sengun to attack the paint. Durant fixes Houston’s main issue: half-court scoring. The Rockets were a middling offensive unit in the regular season, relying on their relentless offensive rebounding to create buckets.
While they ranked eighth in the playoffs in offensive rating (111.0), their clutch offense was absolutely miserable with a 90.9 rating. Houston was also 11th in points per game in the postseason. Adding an elite scorer in Durant will make their offense more diverse and give Udoka more flexibility with lineups.
The Rockets signaled they are ready to win now
While giving up Green may be a tough pill to swallow, given what Houston had invested in him, it was the necessary move. Thompson and Sengun have taken their leaps and are ready to win now, while Green has stagnated.
Green was simply too volatile to be considered a member of the Rockets’ core and that showed in his lone playoff series with the team. In six of the seven games against the Warriors he scored 12 points or less. He also lacked engagement on the defensive end and this caused head coach Ime Udoka to bench him down the stretch of games. When Green isn’t scoring, he isn’t effective.
As for Brooks, he was a big part of the Rockets’ turnaround the last two seasons, but with Durant coming in and Houston already having Smith, Eason, and Whitmore ready for more minutes at forward, Brooks was the odd man out. He will now look to help Phoenix with his 3-and-D skillset, something they sorely needed.
Durant should fit in nicely with this team with his scoring ability, and he already has a great relationship with Udoka given their time together with the Olympic team in 2021.
The Rockets could not have done a better job with this trade. They maintained all of their flexibility from an asset standpoint to make more moves, and they kept all of their young players. Houston is ready to contend now with their big three of Durant, Thompson, and Sengun leading the way.