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Kevin Durant trade winners and losers: Unpacking what's next for Rockets, Suns
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- Kevin Durant trade winners and losers: Unpacking what's next for Rockets, Suns
A blockbuster trade like the Phoenix Suns swung to ship Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets will have ripple effects across the NBA for years to come.
On Sunday, June 22 — just hours before the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder met in the 20thGame 7 in NBA Finals history — the Suns agreed to trade Durant to Houston for Jalen Green , Dillon Brooks , the No. 10 pick in the 2025 draft and five second-round picks, a person with knowledge of the deal confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.
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Durant, 36, is a 15-time All-Star, four-time scoring champion and the 2013-14 Most Valuable Player. This presents a win-now move for Houston, which finished second in the Western Conference, only to get eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
Here are the winners and losers from the blockbuster trade that sent Kevin Durant from the Phoenix Suns to the Houston Rockets :
WINNERS
Kevin Durant
He gets to play for one of his preferred teams , returns to the state where he played college ball and Houston is a young team poised to compete for championships. The Rockets are coming off a 52-win season that placed them second in the Western Conference. They were bounced out of the first round of the playoffs, but, with center Alperen Şengün, forwards Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson and guard Fred VanVleet , the Rockets have plenty of talent.
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REQUIRED READING: How Kevin Durant reacted to Suns trading him to Rockets
Durant, who averaged 26.6 points per game, instantly becomes the No. 1 scoring threat.
There is, however, some pressure with this move. Given Houston's incumbent talent, anything less than a championship will certainly draw out critics.
Ime Udoka
He's a well-respected coach known for instilling toughness in his teams. In two short seasons, he drastically improved Houston's outlook. Now, Ime Udoka gets an elite, three-tier scorer around whom he can build Houston's offense.
It also helps that Udoka is quite familiar with Durant's skill set and work ethic; Udoka was an assistant coach on the Brooklyn Nets in 2020-21, when Durant was a member of the team. Udoka also worked with Durant when Udoka was an assistant coach for Team USA under Gregg Popovich.
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"I was with Ime, so I know how real he is," Durant said Wednesday, February 12 , when the Suns visited the Rockets. "He don't sugarcoat a damn thing. He going to tell you exactly what he feels and how you should play."
Jabari Smith Jr.
Built similarly to Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., 22, stands to benefit from playing with the surefire Hall of Famer. While not nearly as prolific a shooter as Durant, Smith possesses similar traits. If Smith takes this opportunity to learn from Durant, a notoriously hard worker, and steal elements from his game — i.e. Durant's fadeaway midrange jumper — Smith could see his game blossom. It also will help that Durant will draw significant defensive attention away from Smith.
LOSERS
Suns have too many guards on roster
Jalen Green is an exciting young player. He's 23 and can jump out of the gym. But he's a streaky scorer who will need to develop his jump shot. Alongside Devin Booker , 28, Phoenix has a pretty formidable, young backcourt, albeit one in which both players thrive with the ball in their hands.
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Bradley Beal , a player who struggled significantly this past season, is under contract for the next two seasons and has a no-trade clause. At $110.8 million over the next two seasons , moving Beal will be difficult. Dillion Brooks is a more naturally a shooting guard, though he can play small forward. In April 2024, Phoenix also signed Grayson Allen to a four-year extension.
That's too much salary invested in too many guards. The Suns should explore a supplementary trade to offload some of them elsewhere — especially since they did not recoup the haul they sent to Brooklyn to land Durant two years ago.
The Miami Heat strike out again
According to ESPN , the Rockets and Heat were the two finalists for Durant. But Miami, which has been linked to numerous stars over the past several seasons, failed once more to take a swing and land a difference maker who can elevate the franchise to serious contention for a title. After trading away Jimmy Butler in February, Miami struggled down the stretch. ESPN reported that Miami declined to include some of its younger talent and the No. 20 overall pick in the 2025 draft in a potential deal for Durant.
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Heat president Pat Riley has a reputation for being firm in expecting deals executed at a cost favorable to his team. In a vacuum, that's sound strategy. But the counterargument is that Miami is overvaluing its assets, leaving the roster littered with average players.
Realistically, a trade for a soon-to-be-37 Durant was always going to be a gamble for a Heat team that is further away from a championship window than Houston. But by sitting on their hands, the Heat, absent a significant move to upgrade the roster, are resigned to competing for the play-in window.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kevin Durant trade winners and losers after blockbuster NBA trade
