Kevin Durant trade grades for Suns-Rockets blockbuster that’s devastating for one side
Kevin Durant is a Houston Rocket. Let’s grade the deal from both sides.
The worst kept secret in the NBA has finally been resolved. Kevin Durant is a Houston Rocket, and the Phoenix Suns are getting back only a fraction of what they originally traded to get him.
The Rockets acquired Durant for the No. 10 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, and five second round picks, according to Shams Charania. Houston won out over a bid from the Miami Heat. The deal reunites Durant with Rockets head coach Ime Udoka, who was an assistant for the Brooklyn Nets when Durant was there.
Durant turns 37 years old before next season as he enters year-19 in the NBA, but he’s still an elite shooter and scorer. Durant averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game on excellent 64.2 percent true shooting with 43 percent three-point shooting. He joins a Rockets team that finished No. 2 in the West during the regular season with 52 wins, but lost to the No. 7 seed Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs.
Let’s grade this deal from both sides.
Rockets grade for Kevin Durant trade
The Rockets won with defense and rebounding this past season, but their offense was an eyesore much of the time. Houston finished No. 12 in offensive rating, No. 27 in three-point rate, and No. 21 in three-point percentage. Kevin Durant instantly addresses all three areas.
Durant remains an elite spot-up shooter even this late into his career. He can shoot over the top of any defender with an enormous 7’5 wingspan, and it’s usually cash when it leaves his hands. Zach LaVine was the only player in the NBA this season to shoot a better percentage from three-point range while taking as many attempts as Durant did.
Durant still takes a ton of mid-range shots, too. He makes 53.7 percent of his mid-range shots, which ranks in the 96th percentile of the league. It’s felt like Durant should probably trade in a some middies for a few more threes in recent years, but his mid-range scoring will be a big help for Houston in the playoffs when teams need more shot versatility to score effectively.
Houston really didn’t give up much in this deal. Green is unquestionably a bad contract with three years, $105 million remaining on his deal. Green has been an inefficient scorer since entering the league, and it would be addition-by-subtraction just taking him out of the lineup, let alone replacing him with Kevin freaking Durant. The Rockets also retained all of their best young players this deal. Amen Thompson was always going to be off limits, but getting this deal done without including Reed Sheppard, Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason, or even Cam Whitmore is a huge win for Houston.
It felt like the ideal star for the Rockets would be more of a shot-creator than a play-finisher. Durant is more of the latter than the former at this point. Still, getting an elite shooter like KD without much going out in the deal is an awesome move for Houston. Durant typically goes for massive hauls when he’s traded, and that isn’t the case this time. The big question now becomes what happens with Durant’s contract as he enters the final year of his deal. He will want a two-year, $120 million max extension.
It’s hard to say how impactful KD will be in year-19 of his career, but his shooting can always be counted on. The Rockets got significantly better with this deal while shedding a bad contract. This is as good as it gets.
Grade: A
Suns grade for Kevin Durant trade
The Suns were never going to be able to trade Durant for as much as they traded to get him. Phoenix was in tough position after they failed to make the playoffs with the highest payroll in league history. The best move for the Suns’ future would have been trading Devin Booker for a bigger package, but Phoenix was resolute to hold onto him. With a disappointing trade package coming back for Durant, it feels like Phoenix has little hope for the present or the next few years.
Green is a negative-impact player, at least before the calendar turns to March. He takes a ton of bad shots, he’s a poor defender, and he doesn’t impact the game as a rebounder. The former No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft, Green has shot just 34 percent from three in his career. It gives the Suns another shooting guard on a roster that already includes Devin Booker and Bradley Beal as key pieces.
The No. 10 pick the Suns are getting in this trade was the pick that originally belonged to them. Phoenix has been running the organization with an apparent Michigan State bias, and could target Spartans guard Jase Richardson with that selection. The pick is the best part of this package by far. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Phoenix try to trade Green and Brooks for future assets, though there are already insider reports that they will keep Green.
Not even getting Sheppard in this deal is a huge bummer for Phoenix. The Suns don’t control their first-round draft pick until 2032, and they remain saddled with Beal’s huge contract for two more seasons. The Suns are in the worst position in the NBA, and their refusal to trade Booker to recoup assets is simply delusional.
There’s no path for Phoenix to compete in the West anytime soon, and the most likely scenario is Booker signs a huge extension and then asks out when he’s older and has less value. The Suns could not have played this worse, starting with overpaying for Durant and then making the disastrous Beal trade, and Jusuf Nurkic deal. The Suns are in basketball hell, and their only salvation would be hitting a home run with this No. 10 pick.
The Suns traded four unprotected future first-round picks, Mikal Bridges, and Cam Johnson to get Durant. The Suns won exactly one playoff series with Durant on the roster. They were swept out of the first-round in 2024, and failed to make the playoffs in 2025. Phoenix took a big swing for KD under new owner Mat Ishbia, and it failed spectacularly. Now the franchise is about to be stuck in the NBA desert for a long, long time.
Suns grade: D