Kevin Durant to Houston Rockets! $124M is to blame!

Kevin Durant was one of the biggest names on this summer’s free agent market—likely the most important once Giannis Antetokounmpo seemed to be out of the rumor mill.

Durant had been linked with many teams (Spurs, Heat, Knicks, Wolves…), but in the end, he’s headed to the Houston Rockets, one of the franchises that had long been seen as best positioned to land the now-former Phoenix Suns player.

As usual, the news was broken by ESPN journalist Shams Charania, who reported the details of the deal. The Suns are sending Durant to Houston in exchange for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the Rockets’ first-round pick this year (No. 10 overall), and five second-round picks.

Charania explained that Phoenix had spent the past 24 hours negotiating intensely with both the Rockets and the Heat, the two finalists in the race for the 15-time All-Star and 11-time All-NBA forward. In the end, it was the offer from the Texans that convinced Phoenix. The trade will be made official on July 6.

The Rockets, along with the Heat and Spurs, were among Durant’s preferred destinations. In Houston, he’ll reunite with head coach Ime Udoka, with whom he has a strong relationship from their time together in Brooklyn and with the U.S. national team. The Rockets finished this past season second in the Western Conference in the regular season with 52 wins.

With Alperen Şengün making his first All-Star appearance and Amen Thompson emerging as one of the league’s top young defenders and breakout stars, Jalen Green was increasingly seen as the weak link in the trio of young prospects. Expected to be the team’s primary scorer at the very least, Green continued to show the inconsistency that has followed him since entering the NBA—holding him back from breaking into the league’s upper echelon.

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At just 23 years old, he still has many seasons ahead and some solid value in the NBA, and now it’s the Suns who will try to unlock the star many once believed he could become.

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