How the Rockets made a masterpiece of a deal to land Kevin Durant

It's official. The Houston Rockets have acquired Kevin Durant.

What will we talk about now?

Let's start with the obvious: Durant on the Rockets. There are plenty of implications here, but it makes sense to start with a basketball-first perspective. Durant is a Rocket:

And he's going to give them what they were missing the most in 2024-25.

Rockets land elite shot maker in blockbuster

The Rockets sent Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the 10th overall pick in the upcoming draft, and five second-rounders out for Durant.

There's a beautiful, simple elegance in the deal. Durant replaces Brooks positionally, and Green functionally. Brooks has been instrumental in establishing this team's culture, but Durant is (clearly) a vastly superior player.

He's also much better than Green, and he'll be taking on his responsibilities. Durant averaged 26.6 points per game with a 64.2 True Shooting % (TS%) in 2024-25. That will be a substantial upgrade over Green's 21.0 points on 54.4 TS%.

Moreover, the Rockets shouldn't badly miss Brooks' defense. Amen Thompson is a budding Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason, and Durant himself are all plus defenders. It's meaningful that Houston kept all their defensive wings in the deal.

That's what makes it especially sweet.

Rockets made a perfect deal with Suns

It's unfortunate to discuss players as assets. There are emotional stakes here. Green was the first piece of Houston's rebuild. He's a good kid, and we wish him the best.

With that out of the way...

As an asset, Green had depreciated meaningfully. His wild inconsistency has hurt his perceived value around the league. So, his being the main outgoing financial piece in a deal for a top-15 player is huge, even if that player is soon to be 37.

Many assumed the Rockets would have to send out Smith Jr. or Eason. Others thought they'd have to give up one of the Suns' 2027 or 2029 picks. They didn't. All Houston gave up to land one of the best scorers in NBA history is an underperforming young player, a first and five seconds.

The Suns' future is still unclear, and the Rockets still own two of their future picks. They still have one of the best young defensive wing rotations in the NBA at their disposal. Now, they have Kevin Durant as well.

It'll be hard to talk about much else as the 2025-26 season approaches.