The NBA opened the flood gates on Sunday allowing teams to finalize mostly publicized deals that had occurred in the weeks leading up to July 6. That included two deals for the Rockets that included a total of 10 teams, 20 players, 10 draft picks, and cash considerations.
The Rockets announcement of the two trades ends two weeks of wild wheeling and dealing by GM Rafael Stone and his staff. And these don't even include the additional signings of free agents and re-signings of returning players, sure to come in the next couple of days.
Let's take a look at the two deals.
Blockbuster Seven-Team Deal for Kevin Durant
Teams Involved: Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta, Brooklyn, Golden State, the Los Angeles Lakers, and Minnesota. (an NBA record for a trade).
Houston Gets: Kevin Durant (Phoenix) and Clint Capela (Atlanta).
Phoenix Gets: Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the rights to players from the 2025 draft including Khaman Maluach (pick 10), Rasheer Fleming (pick 31), Koby Brea (pick 41); Daeqwon Plowden (Atlanta), a 2026 second round pick and a 2032 second round pick.
Atlanta Gets: David Roddy (Houston), cash considerations, and the right for the Hawks to swap their second round pick for Houston’s in 2031.
Brooklyn Gets: 2026 second round pick and a second round pick in 2030.
Golden State Gets: Rights to players from the 2025 draft including Alex Toohey (pick 52) and Jahmai Mashack (pick 59).
LA Gets: Cash considerations and the rights to a player from the 2025 draft, Adou Thiero (pick 36).
Minnesota Gets: Cash considerations, the rights to a player from the 2025 draft, Rocco Zikarsky (pick 45), a 2026 second-round pick, and a 2032 second-round pick.
Cam Smith Traded to the Wizards
Teams Involved: Houston, Washington, and New Orleans
Houston Gets: The rights to a player from the 2025 draft, Mojave King (pick 47), a 2026 second round draft pick, and a 2029 second round draft pick.
Washington Gets: Cam Whitmore (Houston), CJ McCollum (New Orleans), Kelly Olynyk (New Orleans), and a 2027 second round draft pick.
New Orleans Gets: Jordan Poole (Washington), Saddiq Bey (Washington) and the rights to a player from the 2025 draft, Micah Peavy (pick 40).
OK, everybody take a breath and let's just sort this out for the Rockets. Despite the twists and turns in these deals, the net result is this:
Rockets get Kevin Durant, Clint Capela, Mojave King and a pair of second round picks. They give up Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, David Roddy, the 10th pick in this draft, four second round picks, and one second round pick swap.
It's worth noting that this deal can't been simply looked at in a vacuum because the Rockets have also, reportedly, extended Steven Adams, Jabari Smith, Jr., and Fred VanVleet, while bringing back Jae'Sean Tate, Jeff Green and Aaron Holliday, and signing free agent Dorian Finney-Smith. But, we can get to those later. For now, the focus is on what is essentially Durant and Capela for Jalen Green, Whitmore and Brooks.
Not only does this preserve the Rockets young core (minus Green because you have to give up something for Durant), but it keeps intact a roster that has been mostly stable the last two seasons under Coach Ime Udoka. It gives them additional quality backup center depth in Capela (Joc Landale left via free agency to Memphis), clears Whitmore, a player who was growing increasingly frustrated with his role (or lack thereof) on the team, and, most critically, adds a still very potent all-world player in Durant.
Being able to remain relatively intact while still landing Durant is damn near a miracle and has caused many around the league to wonder just how Stone managed it. Undoubtedly, knowing that Finney-Smith was also on board as a replacement for Brooks made the deal even easier to swing for the Rockets. Not only have they grown more versatile offensively, but they arguably haven't lost anything on defense. They have clearly staked out their claim as a true threat to the NBA champion Thunder.
There will be much more to discuss about this including rotations, chemistry and how they will manage injuries in the weeks leading up to training camp in September. For now, know that the Rockets got one of the greatest players ever to lace up sneakers, still in his prime (albeit toward the end of it), and they still kept the band together.