Shams: Kevin Durant Traded to Rockets for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, No. 10, Five 2nd Round Picks

[enigmatics]

On paper HOU was one of the most optimal places for KD to land, especially now that he's playing next to a true all star caliber big.

The problem is his personality. I know for myself and quite a few other Suns fans - we thought his addition would be beyond scoring and contention. We thought he'd help Booker take his game to the next level.

What the Suns got was a moper and it clearly affected the mood of the team on many occasions. That turned out to be the only thing that Booker learned as there were times when he got very "Ahhhh whatever".

KD is not a leader, so I'm curious to see what happens with the HOU youngsters. Also, the turnovers and walking the ball up court just to ISO is gonna be an issue like it was here.

[MrTribbiani]

he knows the coach he's going to be playing for, and that coach will be stable for the time KD is in HOU. no musical chairs leadership.

the team around him is built such that all he has to do is stay healthy and be a bucket. i assume that's what a guy like that wants.

Houston is a nice city (lived there as a kid) and its a good place to be wealthy in. Not LA or NYC/MIA but still nice.

The org is well run, maybe not SAS/OKC level but really solid, and drama free.

He gets to be the lead guy on a strong team. If he wins in HOU, it does something for his legacy.

The media in Houston is pretty chill. He shouldn't have a bad time with it.

Just a few things off the top of my head.

Agreed, true post.

He’s been on great teams where he was beloved by the fans, he’s been on title winning stacked teams, he’s been in a place where he’s hand picked his teammates and coaches, and he’s chosen everywhere he’s ever gone except OKC. He’s never been happy. He’s had it all before, he’s perpetually miserable

Saying that he's "miserable" is a huge stretch.

To me, he prefers playing for different teams and doesn't care about staying in one city for his entire career.

[HardenGoat]

Read on Twitter

That alone makes this a no brainer win for Houston, but there's a bit more here. He gets his position back where he can be a lethal scorer on a defensive minded team with Udoka in the corner. Imagine having Brooks or Green taking them down the wire on a high stakes game, everything on the line situation. Now imagine having this guy on your team. I mean you know who this is right ... ? Kevin Durant ???

[PaulKellerman]

Knew it'd be Houston but that #10 pick is steep for a 37 year old KD with a long injury history and declining game.

The average #10 pick isn't very good. Like obviously you could draft a great player at 10 but on average you're probably getting a solid rotation guy. That you have to wait 4 years until they even become that.

Very true though I think they could package that with other assets and get someone younger but KD is a great talent upgrade.

[LarsV8]

The news of him willing to take less is a welcome relief. Remains to be seen if that is 30m or 3m, but the extension number will be crucial.

This is a high impact variance move....

Durant could tear an ACL and be done in six months or he could play effectively till he is 43 yo.

We shall see.

[In-N-Out 247]

The news of him willing to take less is a welcome relief. Remains to be seen if that is 30m or 3m, but the extension number will be crucial.

This is a high impact variance move....

Durant could tear an ACL and be done in six months or he could play effectively till he is 43 yo.

We shall see.

My guess is that less means - 2 years $100M. The days of guys taking massive pay cuts like Dirk & Duncan are long over

[MoreyWins]

Did chuckwagon44 have any issues with the Rockets negotiating correctly?

[davidv2001]

Knew it'd be Houston but that #10 pick is steep for a 37 year old KD with a long injury history and declining game.

The average #10 pick isn't very good. Like obviously you could draft a great player at 10 but on average you're probably getting a solid rotation guy. That you have to wait 4 years until they even become that.

Very true though I think they could package that with other assets and get someone younger but KD is a great talent upgrade.

It would have cost the Rockets a lot more to get a younger number one option who can score as efficiently as Durant. This way, they still have all of their young core minus Jalen Green and many future first-round picks (including those from Phoenix in 2027 and 2029).

[scrabbarista]

Yeah, the more I think about it, this definitely gets me excited for the start of the season.

Lock in, KD. Ask Duncan how he handled his body as he aged, and copy exactly what he did. Or ask Chris Paul. (And CP, come back to H-Town for one last season! We could use you!)

A healthy Rockets team - and that means a healthy KD through a Playoffs - could be dangerous.

Do I expect KD to stay healthy?

Nah.

But the start of the season should be fun!!!!

[bledredwine]

OKC, Rockets, Denver, T Wolves, LAL, GS should be a fun west next year.

Only one is stellar, but there should be some good stylistic matchups.

[Wallace_Wallace]

The news of him willing to take less is a welcome relief. Remains to be seen if that is 30m or 3m, but the extension number will be crucial.

This is a high impact variance move....

Durant could tear an ACL and be done in six months or he could play effectively till he is 43 yo.

We shall see.

My guess is that less means - 2 years $100M. The days of guys taking massive pay cuts like Dirk & Duncan are long over

Dirk and Duncan were taking pay CUTS (IIRC, their annual was sub 10 million depending on how expensive the roster was at the time). From 50+ million down to 30-35 (Rudy Gobert/OG Anunoby type money) is still a **** ton of money

[MrMiyagi]

Just commenting so my sig shows up.

We are the dumbest franchise.

[They_Them_Hatin]

On paper HOU was one of the most optimal places for KD to land, especially now that he's playing next to a true all star caliber big.

The problem is his personality. I know for myself and quite a few other Suns fans - we thought his addition would be beyond scoring and contention. We thought he'd help Booker take his game to the next level.

What the Suns got was a moper and it clearly affected the mood of the team on many occasions. That turned out to be the only thing that Booker learned as there were times when he got very "Ahhhh whatever".

KD is not a leader, so I'm curious to see what happens with the HOU youngsters. Also, the turnovers and walking the ball up court just to ISO is gonna be an issue like it was here.

The same can be said for KD playing with a career loser that’s used to throwing tantrums and stat padding on bad teams. He was very miserable there playing next to that bum.

[RollingWave]

We'll see, KD can be a pretty erratic personality, and the Suns last year's defensive effort was some of the most comical things I've seen in a long time, they made alot of bad offensive teams looked like the Pacers at their best quite often.

Obviously the value wise was quite good for Houston so the risk / reward is well worth it probably, I assume he'll extend two years and Fred get a new 3 year deal and the Rockets aim for 2028 summer as the next pivot point where KD probably retires and Fred ages out while Amen / Sengun is about to really hit their prime.

[chuck_wagon44]

https://www.nba.com/rockets/news/rockets-complete-seven-team-trade-to-acquire-kevin-durant-and-clint-capela

Read on Twitter