Suns trade Kevin Durant to Rockets for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, 1st-round pick: Sources

New York Times

3 hours ago

The Phoenix Suns are trading Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 pick in the 2025 draft and five second-round picks, team sources told The Athletic.
This marks the first blockbuster trade for Phoenix general manager Brian Gregory, a former college basketball coach who was promoted to his new role as part of a front-office revamp in May. After missing the playoffs with the league's highest payroll, owner Mat Ishbia set out to establish an organizational identity focused on toughness.
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Durant will play for his fifth team, following stints with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix. He has one year left on his current contract at $54.7 million, and is eligible this summer for a two-year extension worth up to $122 million. The 15-time All-Star turns 37 in September.
Durant's future in the desert became clear at this season's trade deadline. Fighting to reach .500, the underperforming Suns explored trading the superstar without informing him, something Durant did not appreciate. Over the season's final weeks, Durant seemed to accept his fate. With Phoenix lacking roster flexibility as a second-apron team, the Suns needed to reset. Trading him was their best option.
Although fans appreciated Durant's greatness, his time in Phoenix will not be remembered fondly. He and Devin Booker never became a dominant duo, nor did they replicate the chemistry displayed last summer on Team USA's gold-medal run in Paris. Adding Bradley Beal before the 2023-24 season didn't help. A three-time All-Star and high-level scorer, Beal struggled to stay healthy and find a role.
Overall, the Suns won one playoff series with Durant, a 2023 first-round series against a Los Angeles Clippers team missing key players. In 2024, the Suns were swept in the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves. This season, they didn't even make the play-in tournament. The Suns had a different head coach for all three of Durant's seasons.
This will likely not be Phoenix's final move. The Suns are expected to try and part ways with Beal, but his salary (he is owed nearly $111 million over the next two seasons) and contract (he has a no-trade clause) will make that difficult. Phoenix explored moving Beal in February but never came close to making a deal.
The Suns plan to build around Booker, a four-time All-Star and the franchise's career scoring leader. Over 10 years, Booker has experienced some of the best Phoenix seasons and some of the worst. He is eligible this summer for a two-year extension worth $150 million. Booker will play next season for Jordan Ott, a first-time head coach the Suns hired this month after an extensive search.
This story will be updated.