Stein
League sources say that the Rockets remained adamant — after rebuffing Phoenix's in-season attempts to ship Durant to them and sticking to their desire to leave the core of their team untouched until after the playoffs — that they would not trade for KD if they had to surrender any of their most prized youngsters.
The Suns' first-round picks in 2027 and 2029 that Houston also holds? Sources say that they were never in play in these trade talks.
The Rockets were able, in the end, to do a deal largely on their terms, surrendering Green and Dillon Brooks and the No. 10 overall pick in a draft Wednesday night that, as The Stein Line has been reporting all week, is regarded by numerous scouts and draft evaluators to only feature a clear-cut top eight.
Phoenix will also be getting a significant amount of second-round compensation from the Rockets, but the Suns ultimately decided to take the best deal they could that furnished them with a lottery pick immediately. As The Stein Line reported Friday night, Phoenix had been quietly expressing confidence entering the weekend that it could indeed complete a palatable Durant deal before the draft.
The trade can't officially be consummated until the next salary cap year commences and the NBA's annual moratorium is lifted on July 6, so you'll have to sit through the charade of Houston making the No. 10 pick on Phoenix's behalf on Wednesday night. The Suns, though, now know that they at least managed to secure the first-round pick they were so fervently hoping to acquire in this draft after pursuing a variety of first-round selections in ultimately fruitless talks with other teams, from Toronto's No. 9 pick all the way down to Miami's No. 20 selection and Nos. 14 (San Antonio) and 17 (Minnesota) in between.
As our guy Jake Fischer first reported via Twitter, Phoenix is signaling that it plans to keep Green to pair him with Devin Booker.
There is bound to be some skepticism from watching rivals regarding that stance, mind you, given the obvious Booker/Green fit questions that will be raised. Especially with Bradley Beal also still on the roster.
It also must be remembered that, when the Rockets signed Green to a three-year, $105 million contract extension in October, numerous rival teams saw it as a deal that was offered to the 23-year-old as much for its tradability as Houston's fondness for the player. The Rockets did prove completely unwilling in these talks, by contrast, to part with recent first-round picks such as Jabari Smith Jr. and Reed Sheppard.
Phoenix, as feared, didn't come close to matching the monster haul it gave up to acquire Durant in February 2023, when the Suns packaged Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Jae Crowder to Brooklyn — plus four unprotected first-round picks (2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029) and swap rights on the teams' first-round selections in 2028 — to get the NBA's No. 8 all-time leading scoring. The Suns, though, did manage to add a former No. 2 overall pick in Green to the first-rounder it will control on Wednesday night and bring in the sort of tough-minded player in Brooks that Suns owner Mat Ishbia has been openly clamoring for since Phoenix went 36-46 and failed to even qualify for the Play-In Tournament.
The presence of Durant's good friend Ime Udoka as Houston's coach was obviously a contributing factor to the trade on numerous fronts. The Rockets were always high on Durant's wish list — and realistically only rose on that list when KD, as The Stein Line first reported last Sunday, had to scratch off the Knicks, who made it known they would be making an offer. And Udoka, who recently received a lucrative contract extension, was a strong behind-the-scenes advocate for adding Durant's bucket-getting to the Rockets' very youthful core despite Houston's well-chronicled timeline concerns given that the future Hall of Famer turns 37 in September.
The Rockets, remember, have also managed to hold on to another of Durant's closest friends: Assistant coach Royal Ivey. As The Stein Line reported earlier this month, multiple teams — including San Antonio — have been trying to hire away Ivey, who committed to staying on Udoka's staff after he did not land the Suns' head coaching job. Ivey was among the candidates that the Suns interviewed for the post before hiring Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Jordan Ott as Ishbia's fourth head coach in four seasons.
The Heat were interested until the end but, as The Stein Line reported Friday night, their refusal to part with rookie center Kel'el Ware essentially ruled Miami out despite the Suns' desire to acquire the No. 20 pick in Wednesday's first round.
Mal or die trying
