Ime Udoka was instrumental in the Houston Rockets' decision to acquire Kevin Durant from the Phoenix Suns. The groundwork for this move was laid last June when Houston obtained several future draft picks from Phoenix through a trade with the Brooklyn Nets. This transaction sparked speculation that the Rockets were positioning themselves to target either Durant or Devin Booker.
Initially, Rafael Stone and the Rockets organization made public and private commitments to their developing young core. They emphasized that trading away these promising players for a superstar was not part of their strategy. However, circumstances shifted in recent weeks, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst.
"I believe he wanted to have his young team grow, but something happened the last few weeks," said Brian Windhorst. "Ime Udoka, who had him in his Brooklyn—Royal Ivey is on his staff—he was his teammate at Texas. He wanted him. He went to ownership and front office and said 'Can we can get Kevin Durant? Get him.'"
Two factors proved decisive in the Rockets' change of direction. First was Udoka's strong advocacy for the move. Second was the surprisingly reasonable asking price.
"Another thing was they also couldn't say no to the price. The price was just so low they just couldn't say no. It's meant to say look what they still have on their roster. So they now have optionality. They can say 'let's keep letting Amen Thompson develop. Let's keep letting Jabari Smith. By the way, they love Tari Eason there. He can be the guy that replaces Dillon Brooks as that key defender.
The trade allows Houston to pursue multiple paths simultaneously. They've added a proven superstar in Durant while retaining young talent that can either continue developing or be used in future transactions.
"Now they can get Kevin Durant and get themselves better," explained Windhorst. "And still have these pieces that they can keep or trade. The Rockets had this happen because Kevin Durant controlled this process."
