Where things get interesting for the Rockets is what they do next to cement themselves as contenders. This is an obvious chips-in move for them after their half-court offense face-planted against the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. Houston signed the talented but erratic Jalen Green to his contract extension last season partly to be able to use his salary in a trade just like this one, and even the aging version of Kevin Durant is a much more effective engine for playoff offense than Green.
The Rockets already committed three years and $39 million to Steven Adams and presumably will re-sign Fred VanVleet to a more cap-friendly, long-term deal after they decline his $42 million team option. The fact that they front-loaded Adams’ deal suggests to me they will do the same with VanVleet’s to ease the pain of future seasons when likely contract extensions for Tari Eason and Amen Thompson kick in.
Houston still needs one more rotation-caliber shooting guard, preferably one who can shoot, and will have its taxpayer midlevel exception to go shopping for it. Then, of course, we have the elephant in the room — what Durant is worth on an extension. He has one year left on a deal that pays him $54.5 million and can sign an extension as soon as he’s traded. While he is eligible to sign for two years and $122 million, that’s almost certainly an overpay for his age-38 and age-39 seasons. Shaving that number down to something more reasonable is also critical to the cap management of the extension years that I noted above. Presumably, Durant’s people and the Rockets at least broached this topic before the trade happened, but they have all year to sign an extension.
Regardless, the Rockets are a better playoff team now than they were before, even if this trade might cost them a few regular-season wins. Brooks’ stopper role is easily filled by Eason and Thompson, and Durant is better than Green. Yes, it cost them a lottery pick, because it’s Kevin freaking Durant.
GO FURTHER
After Kevin Durant trade domino, what’s next for Rockets and Suns?