The Houston Rockets are in a great position to pursue Kevin Durant as he and the Phoenix Suns are likely breaking up in the offseason.
ESPN’s Zach Kram has proposed a trade that lands Durant in Houston that could launch the Rockets into legitimate title contention.
Houston Rockets receive: Kevin Durant
Phoenix Suns receive: Dillon Brooks, Reed Sheppard, Cam Whitmore, Jock Landale, 2025 and 2027 first-round picks (via Phoenix; the 2025 first is conveyed after the May draft lottery)
For Kram, this seems “win-win” deal as the Suns “would acquire the young talent and picks it is missing, while Houston would upgrade from Brooks to Durant without sacrificing anyone else from its current core.”
“Thanks to a shiny young core and ferocious defense, the Rockets are rising in the West. But they lack the go-to scorer required to lead a contender and rank just 25th in half-court offense this season, per Cleaning the Glass.
Even at 36, Durant would represent a major improvement in this area. He has a higher usage rate and much better true shooting percentage than any player in Houston’s rotation,” Kram wrote.
Suns Get Flexibility
This proposed trade sets up the Suns for the future but also still makes them competitive in the present.
“Brooks is a useful 3-and-D wing on a declining contract who could plug one hole in the Suns’ porous perimeter defense. Sheppard hasn’t found his footing in his rookie season in Houston, but the No. 3 pick offers more upside than any player on Phoenix’s roster. So too does Whitmore, an occasionally electric scorer (career 22 points per 36 minutes) who hasn’t checked enough other boxes to earn more of coach Ime Udoka’s trust,” Kram wrote.
Re-acquiring some of their picks they gave out in the Durant trade with Brooklyn gives Phoenix more flexibility to either pivot to rebuilding or use them again to acquire a younger star that fits their 28-year-old star Devin Booker‘s timeline.
Rockets in Wait-And-See Mode
The Rockets’ future moves are tied largely to how this season shakes out for their young core.
Rockets general manager Rafael Stone went on record that he will evaluate this team at the end of the season.
“Of course, my job is to be open to everything, so I’m not going to not do my job,” Stone said on SiriusXM’s NBA Radio on Dec. 10. “We like this team. We definitely do not intend to change anything, and I would be shocked if something changes this season.”
The Rockets were the third seed in the Western Conference when Stone made these comments.
“We like where we’re at,” Stone continued. “We want to continue to develop our guys, full stop. Will I listen to other teams? Of course I will, that’s my job. But again, there’s no part of me, there’s no part of our decision-making process that suggests that we’re looking to do anything big now or in the near term.
“We definitely want this group to be as good as it can be this year and then we’ll evaluate things at the end of the year,” Stone added. “But the hope is very much that this core group can lead us to where we want to go and that – from a transactional perspective – we’re largely done.”
But injuries have slowed down their ascent and they find themselves at fifth seed with a month left in the regular season. Entering Saturday (March 8) games, the Rockets (38-25) are three games back of the streaking Los Angeles Lakers (40-21) and Denver Nuggets (41-22)for the second seed.
Kevin Durant Fate in Phoenix Already Sealed: NBA Insider
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Durant knew his fate was already sealed the moment his name was included in trade talks at the deadline.
“Well, they’re going to trade him, and he knows that,” Windhorst said on “NBA Today” on Feb. 26. “He’s actually given them [some grace]. There’s been a couple of opportunities where he could have criticized them for trying to trade him. He has not done that. He has been very professional about this, and I expect that to continue throughout the rest of the regular season.”
Durant did not want a midseason trade as he knew he would cost a lot to the team that would trade for him.
“A player like me costs a lot,” Durant said on the “Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis” that dropped on Feb. 26. “Going into your team is gonna be a whole new era of your team when I get to your team and that’s a lot of work through the season like I’m still of value, especially with my contract and just my production that me just getting up and moving in the middle of season, it’s going to be a big blow to any team I’m going.”
Durant, who will turn 37 in September, has one year left on his current deal that will pay him $54.7 million next season.
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