Houston takes a huge swing to add Kevin Durant in its quest to topple Oklahoma City atop the Western Conference.
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The largest trade in NBA history finally came together on Sunday, with centerpiece Kevin Durant joining the Houston Rockets in exchange for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and a slew of other assets with no fewer than seven teams and 13 players involved.
Rockets get:
- Kevin Durant
- Clint Capela
Suns get:
- Jalen Green
- Dillon Brooks
- Khaman Maluach (No. 10 overall)
- Rasheer Fleming (No. 31 overall)
- Koby Brea (No. 41 overall)
- Daeqwon Plowden
- 2026 second-round pick
- 2032 second-round pick
Nets get:
- 2026 second-round pick
- 2030 second-round pick
Warriors get:
- Alex Toohey (No. 52 overall)
- Jahmai Mashack (No. 59 overall)
Hawks get:
- David Roddy
- 2031 second-round pick
- Cash
Lakers get:
- Adou Thiero (No. 36 overall)
- Cash
Timberwolves get:
- Rocco Zikarsky (No. 45 overall)
- 2026 second-round pick
- 2032 second-round pick
- Cash
“Kevin impacts the game on both ends of the court and is one of the most efficient scorers in the history of basketball,” Rockets general manager Rafael Stone said. “We liked the growth our team showed last season and believe Kevin’s skill set will integrate seamlessly.”
The seven-team involvement in the Durant trade tops the previous record, a six-team transaction last summer that most notably sent Klay Thompson to the Dallas Mavericks.
“One of the greatest to ever play the game, we are grateful for the impact Kevin made on our organization and in our community,” Phoenix general manager Brian Gregory said of Durant. “As a member of the Suns, he climbed the scoring charts to become just the eighth player in NBA history to score 30,000 career points, and we wish him the best as he continues his career in Houston.”
There will be at least five second-round draft picks in the deal before all terms are satisfied, the potential for another second-round pick swap and the Hawks and Timberwolves both had to receive some cash considerations to make all the math work.
And some of those draft picks won’t actually be made until 2032, which raises the serious possibility that some players who will go down in history as being part of the trade haven’t reached high school yet.
Durant averaged 26.6 points last season, his 17th in the NBA — not counting one year missed because of injury. For his career, the 6-foot-11 forward is averaging 27.2 points and seven rebounds per game.
The move brings Durant back to the state of Texas, where he played his only year of college basketball for the Longhorns and was the college player of the year before going as the No. 2 pick in the 2007 draft by Seattle.
Houston becomes his fifth franchise, joining the SuperSonics (who then became the Oklahoma City Thunder), Golden State, Brooklyn and Phoenix. Durant won his two titles with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018, and last summer in Paris he became the highest-scoring player in U.S. Olympic basketball history and the first men’s player to be part of four gold-medal teams.
Durant is a four-time scoring champion, a two-time Finals MVP and one of eight players in NBA history with more than 30,000 career points.
“Having played against Kevin and coached him before, I know he’s the type of competitor who fits with what we’ve been building here in Houston,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “His skill level, love of basketball, and dedication to his craft have made him one of the most respected players of his generation, and my staff and I are excited to work with him.”
Houston sent Green and Brooks to Phoenix, along with the rights to Khaman Maluach from last month’s draft, a second-round pick in 2026 and another second-rounder in 2032.
The Hawks got David Roddy, cash and a 2031 second-round pick swap from the Rockets. Brooklyn gets a 2026 second-round pick and another in 2030 from the Rockets, and the Warriors received the rights to Jahmai Mashack from last month’s draft.
The Associated Press contributed to this report