Insider Reveals Rockets' True Trade Interest in Suns Star

The Houston Rockets had a glaring missing piece in their first-round loss to the Golden State Warriors in this year's playoffs.

Despite a 52-30 record in the regular season that led to them being the 2 seed in the West, the Rockets missed an elite scorer alongside their young talent against Golden State.

Houston scored under 90 points at home twice during the seven-game series, including in its 103-89 Game 7 loss Sunday.

The Rockets' leading scorer in the regular season, Jalen Green, really struggled in the playoffs, scoring 12 or less points in six of the seven games while shooting under 38% in each of the six contests.

This is why superstar forward Kevin Durant, who the Phoenix Suns have been known to be shopping in potential trades after a dismal 36-46 season, has made a lot of sense for Houston. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on April 16 that there was a “level of mutual interest” between the Rockets and Durant. 

However, NBA insider Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported the Rockets' interest in Durant is "overstated" in his latest article.

"For all of the Rockets' obvious shortcomings in generating easy scoring opportunities against Golden State's defense laden with thirtysomethings, more indications than not suggest that Houston's trade interest in Kevin Durant continues to be overstated," Fischer wrote.

"It was strongly conveyed to The Stein Line going into the playoffs that a Houston trade pursuit of Durant had become even 'less likely' than previously thought. The Suns naturally want the Rockets to want to Durant and, according to league sources, did try to engage them in Durant dialogue before the Feb. 6 trade deadline. It makes total sense for Phoenix, given that Houston has swap-rights control of the Suns' first-round pick this June and again in 2027 and 2029, but the Rockets passed on the concept then and remain resistant to entertaining the idea of surrendering premium assets in a trade for a 36-year-old with one season left on his current contract ... even though the 36-year-old in question is an all-time great bound for the Hall of Fame.

"It's no secret why Durant links to the Rockets keep coming up. Beyond the fact that the Suns are naturally hoping to reacquire some of their precious draft capital on top of the Rockets' well-chronicled need for a proven bucket-getter in the halfcourt, Durant played his college ball in Austin and has a longstanding relationship with Udoka. The two-time NBA Finals MVP, furthermore, is extremely close with Rockets assistant coach Royal Ivey. They were college teammates at Texas and both Udoka and Ivey were assistant coaches in Brooklyn when Durant played there.

"Most of all, though, it's the byproduct of Houston being uniquely positioned for any potential business with Phoenix thanks to last summer's trade with Brooklyn that was consummated in conjunction with New York's acquisition of Mikal Bridges from the Nets. The Rockets, again, will be inheriting the Suns' pick in June — wherever it lands in next Monday's lottery — and naturally rank as the first team Phoenix would hope to engage in Durant talks because of the draft picks situation."

The Rockets instead hope to get another star from the Suns with their picks, as Fischer noted:

"It makes much more sense, from a timeline perspective, for the Rockets to covet the younger All-Star scorer on the Suns' roster: Devin Booker. But Phoenix has been resolute in its own messaging that the 28-year-old is not available. Suns owner Mat Ishbia very loudly labeled Booker as the team's franchise player during his recent end-of-season news conference and went so far as stating that he plans to include Booker in Phoenix's decision-making discussions.

"Whether or not the Rockets and Suns hold firm on their respective Durant and Booker positions, it's clear that Houston will ultimately need an infusion of shot creation and overall shooting. The Rockets knew going into the Golden State series that neither area was a strength after they ranked 25th in total 3s made and 21st in attempts during the regular season. Yet nothing like the glare of the playoff spotlight illuminates the absence of a clear-cut, star-level scorer who can both regularly create shots for himself and his teammates. Doubly so when the opponent had two in Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler."

There is still a lot of time for decisions to be made in the offseason, and with the Suns having plenty of players, including Durant, likely on the market this offseason, teams will try to gain as much leverage as possible, especially with how desperate the Suns could be.

Phoenix will try to work through all potential hurdles under new general manager Brian Gregory to change for the better next season.