The pros and cons of the Houston Rockets potentially trading for veteran superstar Kevin Durant have been debated for weeks and months, and it appears clear that it's not just a hypothetical discussion among fans.
Per ESPN's Shams Charania, perhaps the biggest media insider and newsbreaker on the current NBA scene, the Rockets and Durant had mutual interest in a trade prior to February's in-season deadline for the 2024-25 campaign.
Moreover, Houston wasn't the only team to be on that list. In Wednesday's appearance on ESPN's The Pat McAfee Show, Charania said:
Back at the trade deadline, there was a list of teams with mutual interest. From my understanding, that's Minnesota, New York, Houston, San Antonio, and Miami. Those are the types of teams that had interest then, and I expect them all to be in the mix this offseason.
But the biggest thing to keep an eye, for fans of those teams, is how does your team finish in the playoffs. How do the playoffs go? Because that's going to really determine who feels like they're a Kevin Durant away (from title contention).
Be it with the Rockets or one of those other teams, trade talks could pick up this offseason, since the upcoming 2025-26 season is Durant's last under contract with the Suns.
Durant, who played his college basketball at the University of Texas, turns 37 years old in September. With the Suns (35-41) now a lock to finish at or below .500 this season, that could prompt both the team to consider retooling and Durant to seek out a team where he could have a better chance to compete for a championship.
Houston (49-27) is currently No. 2 in the Western Conference standings, so the Rockets could fit the bill, on paper. The Rockets also have a significant amount of future first-round draft capital from the Suns, which could tempt Phoenix in a trade.
The question is how much asset value general manager Rafael Stone would give up for a player that is significantly older — and with far fewer prime years left — than Houston's current young core, and how that offer would stack up compared to ones from other teams.
As Charania noted, results from the 2025 playoffs could influence just how aggressively Houston and other teams are willing to bid.
Stay tuned! The Warriors also had interest in trading for Durant in February, but the veteran
Topics in this Story
