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2024-2025 Houston Rockets thread - Prepare for Liftoff 🚀 [Now Featuring Kevin Durant]


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Posted
8 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

White is one of the better and relatively cheaper players. I don’t see. They’ll exhaust options to deal Holiday and Brown first. 

They can get a big return for White, because he's on a reasonable deal and only 31. The others are not, and may not return much or cost something to send out depending on the partner.  

Posted

The Athletic

 

Quote

This feels like a rushed deal by an inexperienced front office executive dealing with a very savvy front office that had plenty of leverage. But maybe once we break down this trade and apply some grades, we’ll find out this is not so bad for both sides (plot twist: we won’t). Let’s bust out the red pen and slap some trade grades down on this deal:

Rockets get Durant

We’ve been curious how patient the Rockets would be with their current situation because they don’t need to rush anything. After a massive leap 41 wins and missing the Play-In Tournament in 2023-24 to the No. 2 seed and a first-round exit with a young squad this past season, the Rockets had options heading into the offseason. Many wondered at the trade deadline if they’d make a big splash to cash in on for a deep playoff run through the West. Instead, they opted to see what they had in their current core. And what they had was a talented, young, defensive-minded team in need of some offensive punch.

As this week begins, Durant, a potential target for them at the past deadline, is now a Rocket. Yes, the two-time NBA Finals MVP will turn 37 before next season and has missed a lot of time since his Achilles’ tendon injury in 2019. Regardless, he’s still one of the most unguardable players in the NBA and a pretty complete player at his age. You can drop him into any team and any system and he’ll find a way to fit. In his 15th season as an All-Star, he still put up 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 52.7/43.0/83.9 shooting splits for a 64.2 percent true-shooting mark. Those are ridiculous numbers. He missed 20 games, so you have to be concerned about that, but the Suns, as chaotic and dysfunctional as they were, had a 33-29 record with him on the floor and 3-17 record without him.

Adding Durant to a core with Alperen Şengün, Jabari Smith Jr, Amen Thompson, Tari Eason and Fred VanVleet (assuming they figure out a new contract with him and his team-option situation) is a great jumping-off point for building on last season. The Rockets won 52 games and they shouldn’t need to physically tax Durant throughout the regular season. He’ll be a major part of what they do, but he’s there to boost the team, not save it. The Rockets know they can win 50 games with gritty defense and by beating up opponents for 82 games. So, what does it look like when they replace the inconsistent talent of Green with Durant?

Once we get to the playoffs, what does it look like for the Rockets? Their big issue against Golden State was an inability to consistently score against a tough defense. Durant has been doing that extremely well for his entire career. The fit is brilliant, and the Rockets don’t really lose any of their depth or identity with it. Assuming they come to terms with the potential two-year, $122 million extension, Durant has a couple of years to help boost the Rockets before some of their other young players need to get paid, meaning this timeline might end up working out perfectly.

As for what they gave up, to not give up even players such as Cam Whitmore or Eason, along with any of Phoenix’s picks the Rockets own past this year? Mastery.

Grade: A+

Suns get Green, Brooks, No. 10 pick, five second-round selections

Plain and simple: The new, inexperienced Suns front office, with Brian Gregory as the new general manager, got worked in this deal. These should have been the Suns’ goals in a Kevin Durant trade with the Rockets:

Get (some of) your picks back (this year’s, 2027, 2029)

Acquire Eason

Gain some cap relief

Bring in veterans that will help keep you competitive

Make sure you have a starting big man

Even with the 10th pick, originally their own, coming to them, they barely got any of this, and I’m not sure how much Brooks or Green even help with the makeup of this team. Green doesn’t really fit into a team with Devin Booker and Bradley Beal on it. The 23-year-old is more of a long-term play than Beal, who has a couple years left on his deal, but we know that Beal has been blocking trades left and right with his no-trade clause. I’m not quite sure how much development in a proper role Green even gets. For the Suns, they have three scoring guards of differing levels who like the ball in their hands. It’s a terrible fit for at least two years, unless you can flip one of them (and one of them can’t be Booker). Or create an environment that Beal wants out of sooner rather than later.

Another thing worth remembering? The Suns can’t tank because Houston still has many of their picks!

Maybe they can flip Brooks if they don’t feel he can come in and change their sad defense by himself. He can contribute to the team’s attitude, but he’s not going to make something terrible into a passable product. He’s not quite that dynamic defensively. Maybe they feel they can draft a very productive, young big man at No. 10. If Khaman Maluach is still available there, that’s a good pick to grab and try to develop, but he probably doesn’t help you win right away. Remember, they still can’t tank! Houston still has those picks from a few sentences ago.

Perhaps Suns owner Mat Ishbia’s obsession with his alma mater Michigan State causes him and Gregory to reach for 6-foot-1 guard Jase Richardson at No. 10, just to keep it all in the family. Regardless, the five second-round picks are not going to be enough to make this a great deal. The only reason this deal isn’t a complete failure is the Suns might nail the 10th pick and get a franchise player or a really good top-three guy for their team. They might flip one of their big-name guards for better depth and assets down the road.

The Suns decided they needed to get a deal done before the draft. Fine. This could not have possibly been the best deal for them.

Grade: D

TLDR:  Ha ha!

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Posted

Huh, I may start paying attention to the Rockets for the first time since being disgusted by the Van Gundy/Francis/Mobley era.

  • Like 1
Posted
10 minutes ago, WBT said:

Huh, I may start paying attention to the Rockets for the first time since being disgusted by the Van Gundy/Francis/Mobley era.

Van Gundy got majorly screwed in 2005 in that 1st round series versus the Mavericks. How dare you?!

  • Like 1
Posted
5 minutes ago, Fastbreak said:

The phx media guys aren't happy.

One thing the mentioned not really considered. This will put the Suns FURTHER into the 2nd apron once you draft #10.

We need a welfare check on the Locked on Suns guy. It sounded like he commit seppuku if it wasn’t Jabari+Eason+10 for KD. He even threw out Amen as a possibility. He’s one sick fucker. 

Posted
4 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

We need a welfare check on the Locked on Suns guy. It sounded like he commit seppuku if it wasn’t Jabari+Eason+10 for KD. He even threw out Amen as a possibility. He’s one sick fucker. 

The one guy was definitely suffering...

Posted (edited)
14 minutes ago, Fastbreak said:

The phx media guys aren't happy.

One thing the mentioned not really considered. This will put the Suns FURTHER into the 2nd apron once you draft #10.

 

it's a bad deal for phx 

not sure why they did it before the draft 

Edited by tx 3 putt
Posted
2 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Doesn’t happen without San Antonio getting cute as shit. Thank you Spurs. Enjoy your overrated food and smelly ass river. 

Don’t forget their big ole women.

Posted
3 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Phoenix was 33-29 when Durant played last season. 3-17 when he didn't.

 

lulz 

The Houston Rockets have acquired the Phoenix Suns' unprotected 2027 first-round pick and the better of the Suns', Nets', and Mavericks' 2029 first-round picks. Additionally, they have the right to swap first-round picks with the Nets in 2027.

Posted

Jalen Green: 

307 games played with the Rockets.

He played in 186 consecutive games for the Houston Rockets. 

Green is currently 4th on the Houston Rockets' all-time list for 3-pointers made.

Green notched 10,038 mins in addition to 240 STLs and 91 rejections in his pro basketball career. He scored 6,173 pts to go along with 1,030 assists and 1,310 total rebounds during his career. 

Thanks for everything.

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Posted
Quote

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.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6443983/2025/06/22/kevin-durant-trade-rockets-suns-analysis-reaction/

Posted
5 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Doesn’t happen without San Antonio getting cute as shit. Thank you Spurs. Enjoy your overrated food and smelly ass river. 

Puffy tacos kick ass…

Posted

Jabari is the more interesting one. He won’t get a great deal if he signs early like Jalen and Alpy but I am sure we will try to lock him down.  If I am his agent I tell him to bet on himself and make the Rockets pay him much more by extending next summer.  

Posted
1 hour ago, tx 3 putt said:

Jalen Green: 

307 games played with the Rockets.

He played in 186 consecutive games for the Houston Rockets. 

Green is currently 4th on the Houston Rockets' all-time list for 3-pointers made.

Green notched 10,038 mins in addition to 240 STLs and 91 rejections in his pro basketball career. He scored 6,173 pts to go along with 1,030 assists and 1,310 total rebounds during his career. 

Thanks for everything.

 

57 minutes ago, Scraps said:

Jalen in his feels on his intagram stories

Honestly, I hope he figures it out and makes a few All Star teams.  He’s still super young and dropped 38 in the playoffs.  This is a no brainer deal for the Rockets and even if KD can’t bring us to the finals and Jalen is a future all-NBA player, you do this 10 out of 10 times.   
 

If I were the Suns I don’t trade with the Rockets without getting that ‘27 pick back on principal even if I have to take the shitty Miami or SA deals.  And yet, here we are.  Awesome. 

Posted
14 minutes ago, A-Tex Devil said:

 

Honestly, I hope he figures it out and makes a few All Star teams.  He’s still super young and dropped 38 in the playoffs.  This is a no brainer deal for the Rockets and even if KD can’t bring us to the finals and Jalen is a future all-NBA player, you do this 10 out of 10 times.   
 

If I were the Suns I don’t trade with the Rockets without getting that ‘27 pick back on principal even if I have to take the shitty Miami or SA deals.  And yet, here we are.  Awesome. 

That’s where I am man; making this deal and not surrendering that unprotected 2027 pick makes this highway robbery. The fact we also have a pick swap with BRK that same year is just gravy….

Posted
26 minutes ago, A-Tex Devil said:

Jabari is the more interesting one. He won’t get a great deal if he signs early like Jalen and Alpy but I am sure we will try to lock him down.  If I am his agent I tell him to bet on himself and make the Rockets pay him much more by extending next summer.  

Sure, and he could also have another dissapointing year showing no signs of development and tank his value completely.

Posted
4 hours ago, BigOrange1 said:

i'd assume so as well.

IF he’s healthy or hasn’t made any demands or single team scenarios. He cuffed the suns with his “I won’t resign with x team” messages.  

Posted

The 10 pick was worthless to the Rockets--players wouldn't even work out for them...they attach that to get rid of their biggest negative asset, Green's contract (their main mistake).  Almost whatever you get back is good, and they got back what they are missing.  If KD gets too old or hurt, they really are in the same position.

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Posted
2 hours ago, Ignatius said:

Puffy tacos kick ass…

Something you can't find in Houston, because there is no Tex-Mex to be found anywhere in Houston.

Hugo Ortega says I have your puffy taco right here next to KD.

Posted
6 minutes ago, PGFrog said:

Something you can't find in Houston, because there is no Tex-Mex to be found anywhere in Houston.

Hugo Ortega says I have your puffy taco right here next to KD.

Any jerkoff who claims the only place to get ‘real’ Tex-Mex is in one and only one city in Texas is…well, a jerkoff.

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