added to the team\u2019s front office<\/a>. Perhaps most of all, the Rockets\u2019 glaring weakness as a team \u2014 scoring \u2014 just so happened to be the very thing at which Durant had done better than nearly every other player in league history (he\u2019s eighth all-time).<\/p>\nThere were all these signs that Durant was destined to land in Houston \u2014 at least in terms of how they were viewed around the league \u2014 but the drumbeat of denials remained.<\/p>\n
Yet by the time the Durant dam finally broke on Sunday, with the Rockets landing Durant from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 pick and five second-round picks, it wasn\u2019t hard to understand why they\u2019d changed course. In today\u2019s NBA, where parity reigns and second-apron realities of the luxury tax make it so hard to remain patient with a team\u2019s timeline, there is no time like the present. And after years of quietly scouring the market for their next star, with players like the Suns\u2019 Devin Booker, New Orleans\u2019 Zion Williamson, Cleveland\u2019s Donovan Mitchell, Boston\u2019s Jaylen Brown and others known to be on the Rockets\u2019 wish list at various times, the focus had eventually turned to Durant.<\/p>\n
So after weeks of negotiations between Phoenix and so many teams around the league, with Houston, San Antonio and Miami known to be Durant\u2019s preferred destinations and, per league sources, the Suns exploring a variety of three-team structures that never materialized, the Rockets relented. Their hope, of course, is that the choice to finally do this deal makes them instant title contenders. With Durant leading the way, veteran guard Fred VanVleet expected to return and rising stars Alperen \u015eeng\u00fcn and Amen Thompson on board, the Rockets decided their time is now.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s why the Rockets, aware that this move could make or break their promising era, pivoted from their longstanding stance on one of the game\u2019s greatest all-time talents.<\/p>\n
Over multiple weeks of discussions with Phoenix, with Rockets general manager Rafael Stone leading the talks, Houston maintained a firm stance in its refusal to include young players such as Reed Sheppard, Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason, team sources told The Athletic. The Rockets refused to give up the Suns\u2019 2027 and 2029 first-round selections as well, no matter how motivated the Suns were to recoup those prized picks (they sent them to Brooklyn in the February 2023 Durant deal, and the Rockets landed them in a June 2024 deal with the Nets).<\/p>\n
The Rockets and Suns found common ground, however, in the availability of the No. 10 pick. Houston had been unable to bring in top players for workouts due to the increased likelihood of the deal and the Suns, through CEO Josh Bartelstein and owner Mat Ishbia, saw the selection as someone who could step in and contribute right away. To recoup assets in a return for Durant, different constructs involving three and four teams were presented, but those never gained suitable footing.<\/p>\n
Ironically, the longer both sides maintained levels of obstinacy, the clearer it became that a deal made sense. As recently as Thursday, team sources say the two sides hadn\u2019t spoken in a week after a previous discussion didn\u2019t go well. Yet throughout the process, the pressure of the playoffs \u2014 both past and future \u2014 remained.<\/p>\n
While the move wasn\u2019t directly tied to Green\u2019s struggles against the Warriors, it certainly didn\u2019t help his cause that he struggled so mightily at a pivotal point (he averaged 13.3 points while shooting just 37.2 percent overall and 29.5 from 3). Ever since he agreed to a three-year, $106 million extension in October, with \u015eeng\u00fcn having received a five-year deal on the same day, rival executives had predicted that Green might be on the move if he didn\u2019t meet this Rockets\u2019 moment. Despite Green\u2019s strong preference to stay in Houston, league sources said he became increasingly resigned to the reality he was on the move in the days leading up to the deal and received word that it was agreed upon approximately an hour before it was first reported by ESPN.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the prospect of adding an experienced, proven postseason performer like Durant \u2014 while increasing the roles of Eason, Sheppard and Smith \u2014 was suddenly seen as the best win-now option on the Rockets\u2019 board. Even if it meant losing players in Green and Brooks, who had been so crucial to the Rockets\u2019 resurgence.<\/p>\n
According to a source close to Durant, the future Hall of Famer is \u201cincredibly excited\u201d about the opportunity to join a contender in Houston, surrounded by a talented coaching staff and top-five defensive unit. The news broke just as he was being interviewed in New York for Fanatics Fest, with the 14-time All-Star letting out a huge grin in front of hundreds of adoring fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe gon\u2019 see,\u201d Durant said with a smile, regarding what to expect.<\/p>\n
Durant has one season remaining on his current contract (worth $54.7 million). Yet while he may not sign an extension when he\u2019s eligible in July, team sources said there is a strong belief that this will be a long-term partnership. On paper, the Rockets\u2019 potential looks extremely promising.<\/p>\n
Team sources said there are early indications Smith will likely return to the starting lineup, with Thompson \u2014 who originally replaced Smith last season after Smith broke his hand \u2014 slotting into Green\u2019s vacated starting spot. The Rockets now possess ample length at four starting positions, amplifying the defensive tools Udoka now has at his disposal.<\/p>\n
The 47-year-old coach has made a serious impact since his arrival in the summer of 2023, with the Rockets going from 22 wins in the season before to 41 in his debut campaign and 52 last season. Udoka was rewarded with an extension last week<\/a> and now finds himself with yet another gift in the form of Durant.<\/p>\nNow the Rockets, who embarked on this rebuilding journey when they traded James Harden four years ago, have a two-time champion in their midst and the goal of winning the franchise\u2019s next championship on their minds.<\/p>\n
(Top photo: Kent J. Edwards \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For months on end, the message from the Houston Rockets was consistent: They had no plans to get…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[4345,3136,1260,1721,358,3187],"class_list":{"0":"post-7500","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-houston","9":"tag-houston-rockets","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-phoenix-suns","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-tx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114731660455979253","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}