Winners, Kevin Durant’s Trade Losses in Houston Rockets

The day when two teams that were patient and who calculated in the construction of their nuclei at the level in which they would face the 7 of the NBA finals, the Houston Rockets went all-in to speed up their time sequence.

After weeks of negotiations, Phoenix agreed to exchange Durant in HoustonGiving him the necessary scorer in his offense in the middle of the field that was clearly missing in their exit in the first round at the hands of the warriors. The Suns have returned a couple of quality players and a choice of the first-round round close to what they exchanged to obtain Durant, but it is not a bad radius in return, considering the market.

Who won and who has lost in all this? Let’s break down, starting from the details of the trade itself (which cannot be officially completed until 6 July due to the extension of Jalen Green):

Houston receives: Kevin Durant
Phoenix receives: Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, Choice n. 10 In the NBA 2025 Draft, five choices of the second round

Winner: Kevin Durant

How much Durant was planning an exit from Phoenix before the Suns started dangling at the commercial deadline (and almost exchanged it with the warriors) is under discussion, but afterwards there was no doubt about what would have happened this summer.

What Durant wanted was to control the process. He wanted to reach a team that would offer him an extension of the two -year contract north of $ 100 million and where he could fight.

Check and check.

Durant fills a specific need for rockets as a half -field marker (below that), and the rockets are expected to find themselves and pay the man.

Only a reminder that in NBA the biggest stars almost always get what they want.

Winner: Houston Rockets

Houston knew what was supposed to contend now.

The Rockets were seed n. 2 in 52 wins in the West last season, a team built on a quality of quality and an athletic core played at defense-proprio pressure like the two teams playing in the final-but were missing to score a punch in half a field (Houston was 22 ° in the championship in a half-field crime). During the regular season they covered him with defense, transition opportunities and offensive rebounds of Steven Adams (who has just extended his contract). However, in the playoffs against an expert and talented Warriors team, the Rockets were forced to play in the middle of the field and could not score enough to win.

Kevin Durant immensely improves the Rockets half -field offense. The man could be 37 next season, but he is still a walking bucket that marked on average 26.6 points per game last season and shot 43% from over the arch.

Having to exchange Brooks digs a little the defense of the Rockets, and now more fall on the shoulders of Amen Thompson defensively. However, it shouldn’t be a dramatic drop-off. In addition, the fact that Rockets have held young players with potential, such as Reed Sheppard and Cam Whitmore, is a victory.

However, there is risk for rockets here, in particular in the long term. The two teams playing in the game 7 of the NBA finals have chosen to be patient with their depth, letting it grow and merges, rather than making the type of trade that would quickly accelerate their time sequence (the operations of Pascal Siakam or Alex Caruso were about to fill the gaps, not having brought a superstar). Houston went in the opposite direction – Was it up for the solicitation of the owner Tilman Fertitta? – And if Durant is healthy and mesh, then this move seems bright. If the injuries, age or other problems lead to an accidental road, then Houston pushed everything inside and did not win the hand.

There are some difficult financial decisions for this team after extending Durant, especially once the second Thompson contract starts for the 2027-28 season. However, these are problems that rockets can worry later. At this moment, they can focus on the victory of a ring.

Loser: game 7 of the NBA finals

One of Adam Silver’s missions was to re -enter the NBA on the field rather than on the transactions. The reason is obvious: the League knows how to monetize the games, does nothing from a debate on social media on a trade.

Durant’s trade was the greatest sporting news of the day and dominated the discussion on what should be an electrifying game 7, focusing the world of sport on Durant and its fit in Phoenix.

There will still be many speeches on the game, but I guarantee you this: the story you are reading now will attract many more eye bulbs than the stories later tonight out of the game 7, regardless of what is happening.

What can the NBA do in this regard? Nothing, really. The League could put a moratorium on the moves before the end of the final, but the teams will speak anyway (this trade cannot be finalized until July 6 and we are talking about it). The League could try to range between the finals and the draft of the NBA, but this would mean going deeper in the summer for the teams (pushing events back as Summer League) or reducing the number of games of the regular season, which is a dead discussion to get to this moment.

Just don’t think that the League is happy with the times of this trade.

Winner (relatively): Phoenix Suns

Listening to the owner of Phoenix Mat Ishbia Speak, there was a legitimate concern for the fact that the Suns could try to exchange Durant with other victory players rather than taking a step back, reorganizing the roster and thinking in the long term. This trade was a longer term move, acquiring a young player in green and choice n. 10, as well as all those future choices of the second round.

This was not the ray that the Suns had to give up to obtain Durant (Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and four choices in the first round), but considering the current KD market, it was as good as they would do. This is a victory for the sun, but more a double double in the gap than a race in the house.

There is still a lot of work to do in Phoenix: Booker, Beal, Green, Brooks and Grayson Allen are all 2/3 wings, now a crowded position in Phoenix. There are more exchanges and changes to the roster to come. But this agreement was as good as they would do.

Loser: Miami Heat

Miami is not very losing here. Today they are exactly where they made yesterday, still to a crossroads with a list that is neither enough to contend nor quite badly from tanking.

The fact that they are still standing at that crossroads is the reason why they slide slightly in the loser category – but if I were standing in the Italian moccasins of Pat Riley, I would have made the same call. The critical point reported in the interviews was the inclusion of the promising young center ke’el ware: the rockets wanted it, the heat would not have given up. While it is easy to ask not to give up a debutant who played 22 minutes a night for Kevin “Freakin” Durant, the reality is that he is exchanging a promising 21 year old for a 37 -year -old with a story of injury is a bad deal. Miami rightly thought that the risk was not worth.

However, without Durant, the question remains in Miami: what is the plan?