Durant traded to Houston for Green, Brooks, #10 pick, and multiple 2nd rounders

Would still do the trade but not the extension.


DD

 

Elseworlds outcomes. But take Jalen for example, while he's been durable in his last two seasons with us, he's played less than 10 games with the Suns.

FVV, Adams are out. DFS and Tari availability issues first half of season. Imagine another on the injury list, who couldn't play this season.

Wolves GM Tim Connelly was swinging for Giannis this trade deadline, but last mid season and summer, he was trying hard for KD. There were other suitors, whom Rockets were competing against.

Maybe our young guys will get better on offense, but Stone desperately needed to plug this hole with a KD. The whole thing is still a work in progress. Maybe not long term, but KD buys the young guys time to develop. There's a chance they're not the future, but the young guys can't say they didn't get a fair shot, because they have been paired with a future HoF, to take lot of the stress off.

 

the Rockets are not a FVV away from being a contender…

FVV not only has some sort of spell over this organization and coaching staff, but it seems to extend beyond that now as well

FVV does not catapult you from mid-tier 1st round exit team to contender…FVV is not even a top 40 player in the NBA

 

That makes zero sense and the trade wouldn't happen if the Rockets weren't going to extend him.

 

whats bad about the extension? He signed for less and it’s a one and one? Lmao.

never change DD

 

Essentially no intelligent NBA observer thinks it was a bad move for the assets given up.

Good podcast (NBA Group Chat) that revaluated the Bane and KD trades (plus other last offseason moves) and were still overwhelmingly in favor. Also don't hear any of the fire Ime chatter anywhere outside of Rockets land, which isn't to say Ime doesn't have his criticisms.

 

It's going to look really bad if he has a major injury though, which is very possible given he's still playing the 3rd most minutes in the entire NBA

If he makes it to the offseason and we trade him for a good return (two very big ifs), the trade is going to look like a really nice way to dump Green's salary.

 

If FVV miraculously returns, the rest of the season be like: "He's not playing well, but remember he's still trying to work his way into game shape."

 

People have attributed the Rockets turnaround to FVV and Udoka, but I think it's time to consider perhaps the biggest factor has been Brooks. The Suns basically swapped KD for him and is now a playoff team again after looking dead in the water last year. Given how much the Suns were asking for Jabari during the trade, it would've been very interesting how the alternate timeline would be with Brooks and the 10th pick (which would either be turned into next year's Pelicans lottery pick or someone like Cedric Coward) instead of Jabari right now.

 

Last season the Rockets didn’t have expectations aside from try and make the playoffs. I think Brooks is certainly underrated but the Suns team this season is also didn’t have any expectations to do anything besides make the playoffs.

We played a lot looser last season and more cohesively (just felt like people played their roles). I think we forget sometimes young cores get caught up in the hype of the team or themselves.

 

Team severely lacks....

PG ball handling
PG shooting
PG defense
Experience (playoff too)

Yet some how, some way, people think Rockets need a Top 40 player to make any difference.

Fred has already played games here. All posters saw it. The offense was always worse without him. Everybody saw it. We all see turnovers and blown 4th Q leads with no ball movement. We all see it.

But they're saying, "Top 40 player" !!!

Their spell is emotion.

 

Really worried we are gonna go all-in on a star this summer and still not be good enough, and not have any future assets. Really worried.

 

im worried we will have stone and udoka

 

Well that's why you want veteran leadership to help ground the youngsters. We know KD isn't that guy. He is a superstar but he's never been a culture guy. The Rockets clearly thinks FVV is that guy, but I'm not seeing him doing any positive work on the sidelines with the youngsters to help things out. And even if he is, it's clearly not working very well. The other vets the Rockets re-signed/signed don't seem to act like leaders in some ways. So while you don't need the veteran leadership to come from Brooks, you need SOMEONE to be that guy. And the Rockets clearly have no one.

 

Hmm yeah the "bad contract" thing doesn't really do much when you turn around and sign Durant & his Burna Boyz to a 90m extension that is even bigger than Greens through age 39. That contract is *risky*

 

Feel the same way. Exactly.

 

Some members of the Houston Rockets regret trading for Kevin Durant last offseason, sources told Ahn Fire Digital.

While Durant is putting up stellar numbers (25.7 points per game) and the Rockets are in fifth place in the Western Conference standings, the team’s chemistry and camaraderie haven’t been as good as they were last season, sources said.

“A lot of guys miss Jalen and Dillon,” one source said. “Kevin hasn’t bonded with anyone here yet.”

One source close to Houston told Ahn Fire Digital that the Rockets “probably wouldn’t” have traded for Durant had Fred VanVleet gotten hurt before the Durant trade went down. VanVleet, who tore his ACL in the summer after the Durant trade, is Houston’s vocal leader, a role Durant has never wanted on his teams, sources said.

Vibes around the Rockets have been “awkward and tense” since the 2026 All-Star Game, sources said. Even though Durant brushed off accusations on social media that he was behind burner accounts that were critical of teammates Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr., most players and high-ranking officials in Houston believe Durant is behind the burner accounts, sources said.