With the Houston Rockets one loss away from an early playoff exit, expect the clamors for a Kevin Durant trade in the offseason to elevate this current roster.
Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey proposed a trade that will land Durant in Houston without giving up their young core.
Bailey’s trade proposal:
Houston Rockets receive: Kevin Durant
Phoenix Suns receive: Fred VanVleet, Cam Whitmore, a 2027 first-round pick (via Phoenix), a 2028 first-round pick and a 2030 first-round pick
“The math is a little tougher on this one than some of the previous deals, since the Phoenix Suns are a “second apron” team that can’t aggregate outgoing salaries or take in more money than it sends out.
In short, this is about the only combination of players that works for the Houston Rockets to bring Kevin Durant in for this run.
That’s why Houston is sending the Suns back its own 2027 pick and including two more firsts for good measure. It’s a relatively steep price to pay for a 36-year-old with KD’s injury history, but the Rockets’ resulting rotation would be pretty terrifying,” Bailey wrote.
Rockets Get Their Go-To-Guy
The Rockets currently trail the Golden State Warriors, Durant’s former team, 3-1 in the first round despite entering the series as the No. 2 seed. Their lack of go-to-guy in crunchtime has the Rockets losing steam in close games against the Warriors.
Durant can instantly fill in that role for them even at his advanced age. The 15-time NBA All-Star averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 62 games this season.
Durant has a previous working relationship with Ime Udoka and assistant coach Royal Ivey, one of his closest friends, which makes it easier for him to plug and play in this Rockets offense.
A VanVleet departure will also open up playing time for last year’s No. 3 pick Reed Sheppard.
Odds-on Favorite to Land Kevin Durant
The Rockets are the odds-on favorites at Bovada at +120 to land Durant if the Phoenix Suns are to trade him.
The Warriors and San Antonio Spurs are tied as distant second favorites at +325. The other potential landing spots for Durant are the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Miami Heat, who are all tied as longshots at +700.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on April 2 that Durant and the Rockets have “mutual interest.”
“Back at the NBA trade deadline, there was a list of teams that there was mutual interest with Kevin Durant,” Charania said on “The Pat McAfee Show” at the time. “Those teams, from my understanding, are Minnesota, that’s New York, Houston, San Antonio and Miami.
The Rockets stood pat at the trade deadline as they wanted to see first how their current young core perform in the playoffs.
Though they have been competitive in their three losses in the series, it’s clear they need someone like Durant who can carry them when the going gets tough.
“Guys are down, but they understand that the game we played well — the one game out of four [Game 2] – we had a blowout win and other games, it’s been a one-possession game, or we’ve had a fourth quarter lead and not played well,” Udoka told reporters after their Game 4 loss. “Consistency wins in this series, and we’ve talked about that from Day 1. We have to be more consistent across the board.”
There’s no better model for consistency than Durant, a 15-time NBA All-Star and two-time NBA Finals MVP.
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Rockets Trade Pitch Lands Kevin Durant Without Losing Young Core