Rockets' Kevin Durant Deal Ranks as Best Trade of the Offseason

Since the Houston Rockets launched their full-scale rebuild, they've been in search of an unquestioned superstar. 

A James Harden replacement, if you will.

They tried morphing Kevin Porter Jr. into one, ignoring the reasons why they were able to acquire him for a second-round draft pick that never conveyed. Unsurprisingly, Porter wasn't able to ascend to superstar heights.

The franchise thought they may have had that with Jalen Green -- who the franchise selected with the second overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft. Green certainly showed promise -- as evident by his seventh-place franchise finish in points per game (20.1).

To add color to that, Green ranks just a spot below Hall of Fame big man Elvin Hayes, and even ranks a spot above Hall of Fame center Ralph Sampson. 

We saw him drop 38 points in a playoff game (on 69.9 percent true shooting)! But he wasn't quite able to put it together consistently. 

The franchise targeted Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Devin Booker for years. They even contemplated bringing Harden back. 

Which is why they pounced when presented with the opportunity to nab Durant for cheap. The Phoenix Suns found themselves in need of a soft rebuild after seeing the Booker-Durant-Bradley Beal trio implode.

So much to the point that they missed the play-in tournament altogether. The Suns were giving assets away for cheap.

They even bought out Beal, giving him $97 million to sign elsewhere, ridding themselves of his contract. They approached Houston, in hopes of landing their own draft capital once more, which the Rockets own, after giving the Brooklyn Nets their own draft capital back.

Ultimately, the Suns only got back their own pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, in addition to Dillon Brooks and the aforementioned Jalen Green.

The deal was stamped by Fadeaway World's NBA insider Eddie Bitar as the best trade of the summer.

"While the Suns amass young talent and long-term flexibility, the Rockets boldly made a win-now move that we all saw coming following their first-round exit in the 2025 playoffs.

Durant’s elite scoring and isolation talents immediately elevate Houston to being a legitimate title-contender, even if he is nearly 37 years old. The Rockets finished second in the West last season, but a first-round exit showed that they had to move on from Green and acquire a go-to scorer. They finally have one, and we can't wait to see KD lead a young team further into the postseason."

Durant would likely have never been available for such a low price, were it not for the Suns' self-destruction. In Durant, the Rockets may be getting their best closer of all-time. 

But they certainly got their man.