Latest news with #DillonBrooks
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
With Kevin Durant in fold, Rockets' odds surge for 2026 NBA Finals
The Phoenix Suns have agreed to trade superstar forward Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets for Dillon Brooks, Jalen Green, the No. 10 overall pick in the 2025 draft, and five second-round picks, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Sunday. Due to the inclusion of Green, the deal cannot be finalized until July, since it requires waiting until his elevated 2025-26 salary is on the books. Advertisement A 6-foot-11 forward, Durant averaged 26.6 points (52.7% FG, 43.0% on 3-pointers), 6.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game last season, and he earned All-Star honors for the 15th time in his Hall of Fame career. The former NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) turns 37 years old in September, and his current contract runs through next season. The Rockets are coming off a 52-30 season and a No. 2 finish in the Western Conference, and their hope is that the addition of Durant will launch them into title contention next season. So, how much will that acquisition mean? According to ESPN BET, the Rockets surged from +1800 in 2025-26 championship odds prior to Sunday's trade to +850 after it. That +850 is second in the entire league, trailing only Oklahoma City. The Thunder, of course, had the league's best record (68-14) in 2024-25 and won the West. Prior to the deal, Houston ranked between No. 7 and No. 9 in 2026 NBA Finals championship odds, depending on the betting service. Advertisement So, as far as the betting community views things, this deal was extremely significant to the Rockets and their short-term chances. More: Podcast: Live reaction to Rockets trading for Suns star Kevin Durant This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: With Kevin Durant in fold, Rockets' odds skyrocket for 2026 NBA Finals
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Podcast: Live reaction to Rockets trading for Suns star Kevin Durant
The Phoenix Suns are trading superstar forward Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 pick in the 2025 draft, and five second-round picks, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Sunday. Due to the inclusion of Green, the deal cannot be finalized until July, since it requires waiting until the young guard's elevated 2025-26 salary is on the books. Advertisement A 6-foot-11 forward, Durant averaged 26.6 points (52.7% FG, 43.0% on 3-pointers), 6.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game last season, and he earned All-Star honors for the 15th time in his Hall of Fame career. The former NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) turns 37 years old in September, and his current contract runs through next season. The Rockets are coming off a 52-30 season and a No. 2 finish in the Western Conference, and their hope is that the addition of Durant will lift them into title contention next season. With that in mind, Sunday's rapid-reaction episode of The Lager Line (sponsored by Karbach Brewing and hosted by Rockets podcasters Ben DuBose and Paulo Alves) explores all of the deal's key takeaways and future implications. Tune in! More: Rockets trade for Kevin Durant in deal involving Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, draft equity This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Podcast: Live reaction to Rockets trading for Suns star Kevin Durant
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
With Kevin Durant in fold, Rockets' odds surge for 2026 NBA Finals
The Phoenix Suns have agreed to trade superstar forward Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets for Dillon Brooks, Jalen Green, the No. 10 overall pick in the 2025 draft, and five second-round picks, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Sunday. Due to the inclusion of Green, the deal cannot be finalized until July, since it requires waiting until his elevated 2025-26 salary is on the books. Advertisement A 6-foot-11 forward, Durant averaged 26.6 points (52.7% FG, 43.0% on 3-pointers), 6.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game last season, and he earned All-Star honors for the 15th time in his Hall of Fame career. The former NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) turns 37 years old in September, and his current contract runs through next season. The Rockets are coming off a 52-30 season and a No. 2 finish in the Western Conference, and their hope is that the addition of Durant will launch them into title contention next season. So, how much will that acquisition mean? According to ESPN BET, the Rockets surged from +1800 in 2025-26 championship odds prior to Sunday's trade to +850 after it. That +850 is second in the entire league, trailing only Oklahoma City. The Thunder, of course, had the league's best record (68-14) in 2024-25 and won the West. Prior to the deal, Houston ranked between No. 7 and No. 9 in 2026 NBA Finals championship odds, depending on the betting service. Advertisement So, as far as the betting community views things, this deal was extremely significant to the Rockets and their short-term chances. More: Podcast: Live reaction to Rockets trading for Suns star Kevin Durant This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: With Kevin Durant in fold, Rockets' odds skyrocket for 2026 NBA Finals
New York Times
4 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
After Kevin Durant trade domino, what's next for Rockets and Suns?
So … now what? The trade of Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets officially kicks off the NBA offseason cycle, Game 7s be damned. The compression of the NBA Finals, draft and free agency cycles into a two-week sip from the firehose unfortunately necessitates that moves like this happen now. That's especially true in our new collective bargaining agreement environment, where pre-July-1 contract extensions are the norm, a two-day draft is less than a week away and teams and players typically agree to sotto voce free-agent signings several weeks ago very shortly after the league-approved July 1 kickoff. The move also raises particular questions about the two teams involved, Phoenix and Houston, as well as those clubs that ultimately sat this one out. Advertisement First, though, the terms: Houston agreed to send Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the 10th pick in the 2025 draft and five future second-rounders to the Suns in return for Durant. The trade can't be completed until the moratorium ends on July 6 because it has to take place in the new cap year. Per a team source, the five seconds are No. 59 in this week's draft, two of three seconds Houston owns in 2026, a 2030 pick from Boston and Houston's own second in 2032. Houston will select for Phoenix in the draft with picks No. 10 and No. 59, won't sign those players to contracts and will include their rights in the July 6 trade call. Cap nerds will note that this trade seems destined to get larger — possibly much larger. The Suns have ample time to negotiate to send either Green, Brooks or any of the draft picks to third parties; some potential shenanigans could yield a decent-sized trade exception. Meanwhile, the Rockets can find ways to stuff guys with contract options like Jock Landale or Aaron Holiday in the deal to take back a player from a third team. Cap nerds will also rejoice in the detail that Phoenix missing the playoffs was the only thing that made this trade possible. Because of that, Brooks' $1 million bonus for making the playoffs goes from 'likely' to 'unlikely' and takes his cap number down to $21.1 million for next season, allowing the combination of his and Green's salaries to squeeze in to match Durant's. Phoenix can't take back more than it sends out while it remains over the first apron, which it will be even if it cuts the non-guaranteed deal Cody Martin and declines the option on Vasilije Micić. For those who are wondering, there are good reasons both ways why the Rockets sent the 10th pick in 2025 rather than one of the unprotected Phoenix firsts they're sitting on. For the Suns, time is money, and this trade helps take some of the worst-case scenarios of future seasons off the table if they play their cards right (gigantic 'if' here, but humor me). As much as the Suns bluster about winning championships, a lot of this deal's value is in softening the worst-case scenarios of the next half-decade so they can have some actual hope. To that end, getting a guaranteed lottery pick right now rather than a possible lottery pick two years from now is probably helpful. The story of the greatest players in NBA history. In 100 riveting profiles, top basketball writers justify their selections and uncover the history of the NBA in the process. The story of the greatest players in NBA history. GO DEEPER Suns trade Kevin Durant to Rockets for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks: Sources From the Rockets' end, meanwhile, they definitely lightened some of Phoenix's potential downside in the 2027 and 2029 draft years, when they own unprotected Suns' picks. But the Suns were going to get something for Durant, so the alternate history isn't necessarily much different. Meanwhile, there's a lot of value for Houston in sending out the 2025 first rather than one of the future picks. First, the Rockets already have a crowd of young, talented players who are struggling to get minutes and don't need another of the same ilk. Guys like Reed Sheppard and Cam Whitmore barely tasted the floor this season. Advertisement Second, the Rockets need that 2027 first from Phoenix as a placeholder so they can't get Stepien ruled by trading their own picks. The Rockets are now in a position to trade five of their own firsts — in 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030 and 2032 — in any future blockbuster that comes to pass in the next 24 months, because the Suns' picks in 2027 and 2029 inoculate them from the Stepien rule. Also, if you think that 59th pick from Houston is worthless, don't be so sure. The Suns can draft a player into this spot and roster him all season in their 14th roster spot, and he will count about half as much against the tax as a veteran on a minimum deal. The potential saving is in the millions in raw dollars, but it also might really matter if they're trying to stay below the second apron. Yes, the Suns already own pick No. 52, but it's possible they pursue this strategy with both those back-end roster spots. Exhales … OK, now about the basketball. 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 Green to that extension last season partly to be able to use his salary in a trade just like this one, and even the aging version of 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. Advertisement 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. As for Phoenix, the Suns now have cornered the shooting guard market! Seven of the 10 players they currently have under contract are twos. Brooks will likely start at small forward and be their defensive stopper, and Bradley Beal's Untradeable Contract will come off the bench behind Devin Booker. That makes Green the point guard, which is suboptimal; it also makes it seem likely that they would waive Cody Martin's non-guaranteed deal and trade Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale. Allen and O'Neale make a combined $27 million next season, and they aren't dead money at those salaries; trading both for either a real point guard or anybody 6-foot-7 or taller will go a long way toward evening out the roster. The Suns also need to move those players to get below the second apron and unfreeze their 2032 draft pick. They don't need straight salary dumps, but taking back less money than they send out would go a long way toward achieving the goal. Those second-round picks from Houston may come into play as deal-sweeteners in trades involving either or both of those two. As for the large logic of the deal itself, it made a ton of sense for the Suns. The fact that they gave up way too much in the original trade for Durant is a sunk cost; this particular trade was a decent return that gives them both draft capital and two starters, one of whom is young enough to still get considerably better. They were never doing better than this. Meanwhile, with the giant Durant domino out of the way, we move on to the next moves. What do teams like Miami, Minnesota and San Antonio do now that Durant is off the table? Will other stars come on the market in the coming weeks, or is this a wrap for the A-list player movement? For that, we must wait. In the meantime, I thought this was a fair trade that accomplished reasonable franchise-level goals for both sides. As ever, the real test of whether the trade 'worked' lies in what they can do next.
USA Today
4 hours ago
- Business
- USA Today
NBA trade reaction: Rockets, Rafael Stone praised for Kevin Durant deal
The reaction across the NBA was largely positive in the aftermath of Houston's blockbuster trade agreement to acquire Suns star Kevin Durant. The Phoenix Suns are set to trade two-time NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 overall pick in the 2025 draft, and five second-round picks, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Sunday. Those five second-round selections include the No. 59 pick in 2025; two choices in 2026; a 2030 selection via Boston; and a 2032 pick from Houston. Because of the inclusion of Green, the deal cannot be finalized until July, since it requires waiting until his higher 2025-26 salary is on the books. A 6-foot-11 forward, Durant averaged 26.6 points (52.7% FG, 43.0% on 3-pointers), 6.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game last season, and he earned All-Star honors for the 15th time in his Hall of Fame career. The former NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) turns 37 years old in September, and his current contract runs through next season. Early indications are that he plans on extending that deal in Houston. So, for the Rockets, it's a clear upgrade to a young team that finished 52-30 last season and with the No. 2 overall seed in the Western Conference. With that in mind, the post-deal reaction from NBA media and fans was largely positive. Here's a sampling of what we saw on social media, with plenty of praise for Rockets general manager Rafael Stone. Rafael Stone, Elite Negotiator? Kevin Durant's Houston Connections Suns Criticized for Deal Rockets' Ticket Sales to Spike? More Houston Trades Still Possible Magic Johnson, Stephen A. Smith Impressed 2025-26 Rockets: Scary Good? Projected Starting Lineup for Rockets Kevin Durant's Winning Impact Stephen A. Smith Wants Russell Westbrook in Houston Dillon Brooks to Phoenix Rockets Legend Vernon Maxwell Predicts 2026 NBA Finals More: Rockets trade for Kevin Durant in deal involving Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, draft equity
