Rockets used return from James Harden trade to land a new superstar

Durant and Harden will each be on their second team since teaming up four years ago in Brooklyn, an ill-fated, 56-week partnership that topped out in a second-round loss in 2021. Brooklyn gave the Rockets three first-round picks and four swaps in the trade, which Houston has since turned into forward Tari Eason and last year’s No. 3 pick, guard Reed Sheppard.

But when Durant wanted out of Brooklyn, one year after Harden forced his way to the Philadelphia 76ers, the Phoenix Suns sent Brooklyn a Harden-sized ransom: Four first-round picks and a swap. Brooklyn still didn’t control their own picks, so last summer they traded Suns picks in 2025, 2027 and 2029 to the Rockets to get their own 2025 and 2026 selections back.

That Suns first-rounder may have been the key to getting the Durant deal done. Jalen Green still has a ton of potential as a scorer and Dillon Brooks should help Phoenix remain competitive, but getting a cost-controlled potential star was crucial for a team that had the NBA's highest payroll but finished with its 10th-worst won-loss record.

It helped that Houston remained patient during its post-Harden rebuild, not cashing in its many first-round picks to get stars or even veterans. Even in the trade for Durant, Houston only gave up one of the three Suns first-rounders it controls. Depending on how things go with Green and Brooks in Phoenix, it's not impossible to imagine Houston could dangle the other two Suns picks in the future in a trade for another All-Star: Devin Booker.