The seven-team trade that sends star forward Kevin Durant and free agent big man Clint Capela (via sign-and-trade) to Houston is now official, according to press releases from several teams, including the Rockets.
“Having played against Kevin and coached him before, I know he’s the type of competitor who fits with what we’ve been building here in Houston,” head coach Ime Udoka said in a statement. “His skill level, love of basketball, and dedication to his craft have made him one of the most respected players of his generation, and my staff and I are excited to work with him.”
The move sets a new NBA record for most teams involved in a single trade. The terms of the deal are as follows:
Word first broke on Wednesday that the Durant trade was being expanded to be completed as a seven-team deal. For the most part, it was just a matter of folding separate draft-night trade agreements into a single transaction.
In addition to the original Durant blockbuster (story), this transaction incorporates trade agreements between the Suns and Nets (story), Suns and Warriors (story), Suns and Timberwolves (story), and Lakers and Timberwolves (story), as well as the sign-and-trade deal sending Capela from the Hawks to the Rockets (story).
The only two new additions to this deal are Plowden and Roddy, who are both entering the second year of two-way contracts. The addition of Plowden ensures that the Hawks are “touching” a second team besides Houston in the deal. He’s being waived by the Suns, reports Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link).
In exchange for sending out Plowden, the Hawks are filling that newly opened two-way slot with Roddy, a former first-round pick who spent more than half of the 2024-25 season in Atlanta on a standard contract.
Attaching the Capela sign-and-trade deal into this transaction has cap-related benefits for the Rockets, who would otherwise have had to send out a separate matching salary in order to sign Capela to his reported three-year, $21M deal.
However, for the most part, amalgamating all those draft-night deals is just about streamlining the process for several teams, allowing them to take part in (or wait out) fewer trade calls and get their newly acquired rookies under contract sooner.
More must-reads:
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!