Kevin Durant, Rafael Stone Explain Intricacies of Offseason Blockbuster Trade

The Houston Rockets have been in pursuit of a superstar for several years, waiting on the right opportunity to emerge. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Devin Booker, and Kevin Durant were atop their list of targets.

At one point, Houston was slated to reacquire James Harden, whose trade demand created the need in the first place in 2021. Harden had been the Rockets' franchise cornerstone for the better part of a decade and had legitimately paid the price, falling short to the superteam Golden State Warriors on three occasions. 

In the NBA's current era of player empowerment, a trade request is bound to happen in those circumstances.

Houston transitioned into a full-scale rebuild, which tends to happen following the departure of a surefire MVP candidate. However, the initial attempt was to reconstruct the roster into a title contender in the same season, hoping that Victor Oladipo and John Wall could return to the pre-injury version of themselves. 

The hope was short-lived, of course.

Houston signed high-caliber free agents and hoped to organically land and groom a star via the NBA Draft. They've succeeded in that regard, as Alperen Sengun became an All-Star last season and Amen Thompson appears well on his way to being one of the better players at his position. 

And after a second place finish in the Western Conference, Houston finally added their superstar in Durant. Rockets General Manager Rafael Stone explained that the trade with the Phoenix Suns was quite drawn out, over an extended period of time.

" It was long. Like, we understood what they wanted to get for Kevin, and it just didn’t make sense for our team — starting, I don’t know, a year ago,” Stone said. “So, there were all these conversations, and it was a very, very long process. I think from my perspective — obviously, we did the trade. We're really happy with it.”

Durant explained that he was disappointed by the manner in which the Suns made him available. 

"I would say around February, the Suns had pretty much let the league know that I was on the market,” Durant said. “Initially, I was a little upset because I felt like we built a solid relationship, me and the Phoenix Suns. And to hear that from a different party was kind of upsetting. But that's just the name of the game. So, I got over that quickly and was trying to figure out what the next steps were.”

Durant added that Houston kind of swooped in and nabbed him, while he rebuffed the opportunity to rejoin the Golden State Warriors, who he won multiple titles with.