Kevin Durant Trade to Rockets Unlikely Unless Key Player Is Included: Report

With Durant likely to be on the move, there have been multiple teams reported to be in trade talks with the Suns to land the future Hall of Fame forward, including the Houston Rockets.

Houston is reportedly one of Durant’s preferred trade destinations, along with the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Despite this, it has been reported that Phoenix has not been intrigued by Houston’s offers for Durant thus far as they have been unwilling to include one of their young players.

That player is Jabari Smith Jr. and according to Suns insider John Gambadoro, the Suns are unlikely to send Durant to Houston unless Smith Jr. is included in the deal.

Of course, it has been reported that the Rockets are trying to build a trade package around Jalen Green to send to Phoenix for Durant but with the Suns not wanting Green due to his lack of fit next to Booker they may need to find a third team to pull off a trade.

Now with the Suns also wanting Smith Jr. as part of a trade package, it seems as though Durant will not be heading to Houston as the Rockets have shown no interest in moving on from Smith Jr.

Because of this, Houston may be out on the Durant sweepstakes unless they drastically change their offer, meaning that the focus now shifts to other teams around the NBA to possibly pull off a deal, though the Suns have yet to be intrigued by any team’s offers thus far.