Did the Rockets Win the Kevin Durant Trade with the Suns?

Perhaps a bit sooner than anticipated, the looming Kevin Durant trade happened on Sunday.

The Houston Rockets acquired Durant from the Phoenix Suns for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, and five future second-round picks, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.

Houston was one of Durant's three preferred destinations as potential contenders in warm weather. With the 37-year-old former league MVP and NBA Finals MVP now cozy in his new home, how real are the Rockets as contenders to win next year's title? Did they win the trade?

Let's examine the Durant-to-Houston deal and find out why the Rockets pulled the trigger.

Why Did the Rockets Trade for Kevin Durant?

For years, the Houston Rockets have been acquiring top picks and players in attempt to rebuild their squad after the James Harden and Chris Paul iteration fell short of the title in 2019.

Those picks and players took a gigantic leap this season under coach Ime Udoka. Houston skyrocketed from missing the West's Play-In Tournament in 2023-24 to the No. 2 seed in the West for 2024-25's NBA playoffs.

Houston had the misfortune of drawing the Golden State Warriors, who had the NBA's third best net rating (+8.8) after acquiring Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline, as a 7 seed in the first round. If Stephen Curry hadn't gotten hurt in the second round, the Dubs might have been a threat to win it all out west, so taking them to seven games was no small sign that the Rockets are not far off from the top of the conference.

We knew there was room for improvement, though. The Rockets totaled just 104.0 points per game in that series and looked lost offensively at times. That's where Durant, who averaged 26.6 points per game (PPG) this year on a 64.2 true-shooting percentage (TS%), was a masterful fit.

Though often aloof and injured, Durant gives Houston the bonafide top scorer late in games that, perhaps, cost them their series with Golden State, and they didn't give up much from this year's playoff core to get him.

Who Won the Rockets-Suns Trade of Kevin Durant?

A clear "winner" in the Rockets-Suns deal for K.D. will emerge in time, but I think both teams did well.

Durant's public requests made Phoenix's leverage to move him disastrously low. The Miami Heat were reluctant to move even mediocre assets for the injury-prone 37-year-old. For that purpose, the Suns getting former No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green, off a year where he posted 21.4 PPG for a winning team, is a pretty remarkable return.

Green's warts are obvious as an inefficient, ball-dominant scorer, but his athleticism still leaves potential for him to become a high-level two-way contributor in the NBA. He's only 23. Green was benched late in two of the seven games against Golden State, showing that Udoka might not have seen him as a positive playoff contributor.

Dillon Brooks might end up elsewhere, but the enigmatic two-way wing did still average 14.0 PPG this season. Phoenix might move him to a team that can win now as he's largely just a salary match.

An underrated asset is the No. 10 pick in one of the deepest drafts in recent memory. In FanDuel Research's Riley Thomas latest 2025 NBA Mock Draft, plenty of quality names remain on the board at the spot, and it's a guaranteed top-10 pick rather than a potential late one down the road if this young Rockets group blooms with or without K.D.

If the San Antonio Spurs were unwilling to move their No. 3 pick, it was hard to envision a better return for a spoiled asset like the aging, discontent Durant.

Are the Rockets Contenders with Kevin Durant?

FanDuel Sportsbook's 2025-26 NBA Finals odds show the Houston Rockets at +900 to win next year's title, trailing only the Oklahoma City Thunder (+260):

As a young squad coming off a 52-win season, Houston was going to be a factor next season with or without Durant. Frankly, this doesn't take them entirely out of a potential Giannis Antetokounmpo trade with several young assets and future picks still available, either. Combining Durant, Giannis, and likely keeping some combination of Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith, and Amen Thompson is a pretty insane proposition.

Though we never got the hypothesized Rockets-Thunder matchup of young, rising squads, Houston played them tougher than almost anyone in the regular season this year. They won both home games while dropping all three in Oklahoma City, totaling a -5.1 NRTG. That's not bad when this group was definitely unfinished compared to a team with the current league MVP that made the NBA Finals.

Durant's health is no given, but they've got the depth to rest and manage him to be ready for the postseason, and he is still one of the league's very best bucket-getters late in games. It'll be fascinating to see if he faces his former team in the West Finals as oddsmakers expect.

If there's a real loser of this deal that created a second Western Conference power, it's Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. Though most consider Jokic the best player in the world, he's now got two significantly superior squads in the West to face as Denver has minimal flexibility to improve. With FanDuel's ninth-best title odds (+1900), the Nuggets' ability to contend behind Jokic, turning 31 in February, seems over very shortly after it started.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.