Thoughts on the Kevin Durant Trade
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The NBA offseason is off and running. There has already been a plethora of trades the past couple of days. Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday are no longer on the Celtics. Jordan Poole has a new home. I'm sure many more names will be moved the next couple of days, especially tonight because it is night one of the draft. But the one trade I want to talk about today is Kevin Durant to the Rockets.
KD is on another new team again, and he is saying all the typical stuff he has before. I wrote, maybe a week ago, how much I have loved watching KD play basketball, but how tiresome this part of his career has become. He gets unhappy, asks out of wherever he is playing, says he's happy and within six months, he wants to be moved again. I have to believe that he is frustrated how it all played out in Golden State. I have heard he doesn't feel like he got his due credit for helping that team win two rings. Fact of the matter is, KD joined a ready made champion coming off a 73 win season. All he did was make them unbeatable. That team will always be Steph Curry's team, no matter how much KD and his people wanted it to be his team. After he got bored in Golden State he went to the Nets. That obviously didn't work the way they envisioned it would. Then he forced his hand to Phoenix and that blew up in everyone involved faces there. Now he is a member of the Houston Rockets.
The Rockets did have to part with young talent and picks. They let Jalen Green go. I have liked Jalen Green his whole career to this point. Sure, he hasn't developed into the star they thought, but he is still young and hyper athletic. He can also score in bunches. His defense comes and goes, and he needs to work on that. He also let in to the moment during this past playoffs, but he should have many more chances to prove himself. The Rockets also let Dillon Brooks go. I'm not a Dillon Brooks guy, but he is a very good defender. He also knows how to annoy the hell out of opponents. But his act grows thin very quickly and it is not a surprise to me that he is on his third team in four years. The picks are a nice recoup for the Suns, but they only got one first rounder, number 10 in this year's draft. They also got four second round picks.
When I look at this trade from a whole, I do think it has benefits for both teams, but I also think it speaks volumes to KD's value as he continues to age and continues to get more and more grumpy. Even last season I bet the Suns could've gotten much more for him. But here we are. KD is going to be 37. He misses twenty plus games every year now. He is too busy fighting with regular ass people on the internet. The whole act is becoming boring and lame. But, he can still put the ball in the hoop, and that is what the Rockets need. With him, Alpernen Sengun and Amen Thompson, they have three guys that can bring it every night. Jabari Smith Jr should develop even more with all the open space he would find now. And Fred VanVleet is a smart, team playing lead guard and that is what every team wants and needs. As for the Suns, I don't know if they will hang on to either Green or Brooks. If I was those two I'd want to go play where the games actually mean something. The picks are the big deal for the Suns. They need to go into full rebuild mode and not waste time trying to give the team to Jalen Green and let Dillon Brooks be a menace and only win 30-35 games a year. As for the Rockets, this is an okay deal for one season. But, they will have to be ready for KD to flip at a moment's notice. If one thing isn't to his liking, he will become irritated and ask to move yet again, while asking for a big contract extension. The Rockets have to walk a fine, thin line with KD. He also happens to be old and aging out of the league.
Time will tell with this move, but I'm not fully on board with it from the Rockets' end, especially if it doesn't go the way they planned. We shall see.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.