The Rockets must consider this offseason Kevin Durant blockbuster proposal

Some Houston Rockets fans won't want Kevin Durant at any cost.

That's understandable. Durant is old. He's only going to get older. The Rockets have an exciting young core. Why give up anything of significance for a player who's approaching retirement?

Well...

Kevin Durant is one of the best players of his generation. He's also a 7'0" wing who relies on his footwork, craft, and fluidity to score before leaning on burst or speed. Even at 36, it's likely that Durant has a few seasons of prime production left.

Meanwhile, the NBA is wide open. There's an atypical level of parity in the league right now. It may not last forever. Victor Wembanyama's ascent is inevitable, and the Thunder are not going anywhere either. One could argue that it would make sense for the Rockets to make a win-now move while they're already in the Western Conference's upper tier.

Why not a move for Durant?

Rockets could land Durant without moving rotation players

If you're new around here, let's get you up to speed. The reason why the Rockets are relentlessly linked to Durant is that they own their next few picks. That's why there's speculation that the Rockets could acquire Durant without giving up particularly significant players. Here's a deal that could work for both sides:

Phoenix Suns receive: Dillon Brooks, Jock Landale, Cam Whitmore, Reed Sheppard, 2025 First Round Pick (PHX), 2027 First Round Pick (PHX), 2029 First Round Pick (PHX)

Houston Rockets receive: Kevin Durant

Caveats abound.

Firstly, the Stepien rule would disallow the Rockets from moving the 2025 pick outright. They'd have to make the selection on the Suns' behalf and send them the rookie. They'd also have to pick up team options on Whitmore and Landale to make this deal happen.

With logistics out of the way, let's look at the deal from a basketball perspective.

Both sides could benefit from Rockets/Suns blockbuster

From the Rockets' side, the logic here is clear. They're landing one of the best players in the NBA. Make no mistake: Durant still exceeds that threshold.

In 2024-25, he's averaging 27.1 points with a 63.5% True Shooting % (TS%). His Box Plus/Minus (BPM) of 3.5 is underwhelming on Durant's standards, but he's spent the season on a struggling Suns team. Even then, it's a star-caliber number.

The gamble here is that Durant can sustain this level of production for at least two more seasons. The Rockets are trying to pry open a championship window here. They'd be surrounding Durant with dynamic players on both ends of the floor. The inside/outside attack that he and Alperen Sengun could execute would be formidable, and lineups featuring Jabari Smith Jr. at the 5 next to Durant would provide Amen Thompson and Jalen Green with pristine spacing.

From the Suns' perspective, this is an opportunity to retool. It doesn't seem like this organization wants to entirely rebuild, but bringing in some young talent is still a good move. More pressingly, the Suns could justify tanking just one season to land a high lottery pick to trade for Devin Booker's next co-star.

Is this realistic? It's hard to say. The Rockets' front office has indicated that they're not interested in older stars. Any longtime NBA fan knows to take a front office's word with a grain of salt, but perhaps the Rockets are set on Booker, or someone closer to their timeline.

Does Booker move the needle enough to justify giving up assets to pair him with Green? That's a question Rafael Stone will have to ask himself. By contrast, nobody can doubt Durant's capacity to change a team's fortunes:

Whether fans want him or not.