Thoughts on the Kevin Durant Trade
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While I was gone last week Kevin Durant was traded to the Rockets. Let’s discuss.
We all saw this coming from a million miles away. I am glad he didn't end up in San Antonio, and Houston seemed like the most likely and his preferred destination. There were seven teams and a bunch of players involved in this trade, but the Rockets and Suns were the two main players. The Rockets acquired Kevin Durant and the Suns got Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and the 10th pick in the draft and some second round picks. The Suns ended up selecting Khaman Maluach with the 10th pick, and the seconds moved around on draft night.
Pulling back and looking at this trade for these two teams, I feel like both teams got what they wanted in the deal. I'll start with the Suns. The Suns need to rebuild something fierce. They were in a terrible place when they traded for Bradley Beal last season. When that didn't work, the Suns didn't even make the play-in, I think the front office realized they needed to fully start over. I think they are currently in that process, and trading KD was the first step. Now they have to get rid of Bradly Beal, either buy him out or trade him, and they can really go into full rebuild. This will be a bummer for Devin Booker, but he must be happy in Phoenix because he just signed a humongous extension to stick around for a lot longer. The Suns did get two solid players in Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks. Green has shown flashes. He has up and down moments, but he proved he can score on a big stage in the playoffs last year. He also played poorly too. That cannot be overlooked. But now he is going to a place where he doesn't have to be the lone creator. He gets to play next to Devin Booker, who is better than Fred VanVleet and the other guards the Rockets have. That's no disrespect to them either. Booker is clearly a better player. Like or loathe Dillon Brooks all you want, but the dude is a menace on defense. He is a good, mean defensive player. He can also occasionally hit shots. But, much like the case with Green, Brooks won't have to worry about being on every single night. The Suns are not going to be good, and maybe the coaching staff will see what they have with Brooks at this stage in his career. I like the rookie Maluach here. He will get a ton of chances, and while he is raw, he was the second best player on Duke's team last season. He is also long which can lead to more blocked shots than others may think. The Suns, as I mentioned before, will not be very good, especially in the West, but they may be a fun League Pass team. I think Booker and Green can fill up the stat sheet, and I'm pretty high on Maluach in the long run.
The Rockets just jumped into the upper echelon of the West by adding KD. He has to be engaged and ready to play and give up some of the playmaking he may be used to, and I think he will be fine with that. He is old and oft injured, but he won't have to create nearly as much with this version of the Rockets. Fred VanVleet will find him for open shots. Alpernen Sengun will not clog the lane and can find him with some good passes. Amen Thompson will take a load off of him on defense. Steven Adams will protect him and has familiarity with him. Jabari Smith Jr is a solid big to put next to him. Dorian Finney-Smith is still a good enough three and D guy. And he and Jeff Green have been friends since KD was drafted by the Sonics. The Rockets have added a bonafide superstar scorer. They've also added a guy that knows how to win on the biggest stage. He can be a headcase, and if things go sideways quickly, it could be bad. But, if the Rockets meet expectations, this trade will look really good for one or two seasons.
I feel like everyone wins in this trade. Each team got what they wanted out of it and everyone seems happy.
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.