Were the Houston Rockets really the best landing spot for Kevin Durant?
Since leaving the Golden State Warriors in free agency in 2019, Durant hasn’t made it past the second round of the playoffs during his stints with the Brooklyn Nets (2019-2023) or the Phoenix Suns (2023-2025) despite the former team having a stacked roster with Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden and the latter having Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.
The NBA is most fun when its biggest stars are playing meaningful basketball. Both LeBron James and Stephen Curry are now in situations where they could compete for a title, with James teaming up with Luka Doncic on a Los Angeles Lakers team that was eliminated in the first round of the 2025 playoffs and Curry now playing alongside Jimmy Butler on the Warriors, who advanced to the second round before their season ended amid a hamstring injury to Curry.
Durant was the big domino that needed to fall. Most recently, his Suns finished 11th in the Western Conference, missing the playoffs altogether.
On Sunday, Durant’s future and the landscape of the NBA shifted when news broke that the superstar has been traded to the Houston Rockets, a move that usurped the news cycle hours before just the ninth Game 7 in Finals history since the NBA-ABA merger at the start of the 1976-77 season.
Sure, the Rockets could be contenders next season with Durant joining a team that has Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, Fred VanVleet and Jabari Smith Jr. The Rockets finished with the second-best record in the league last season before getting eliminated by Golden State in the first round of the playoffs. Having Durant on their roster will surely make them primed for a deeper postseason run next year.
But was this really Durant’s best option? Is this the aha moment we were hoping for? Does this feel right?
Things could’ve looked very different for Durant.
After all, he kaboshed a deal that would’ve sent him to Golden State at the trade deadline in February. And he reportedly didn’t have much interest in joining the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were among his top pursuers. Durant was willing to go to Houston, San Antonio or Miami, but the latter two teams apparently didn’t put together attractive enough trade packages for Phoenix.
The 36-year-old Durant deserves to be playing for a contender. And we deserve to watch the 15-time All-Star, who is widely considered the greatest scorer of all-time, shine during the remaining time he has left in the league.
Here’s a look at a few what-if scenarios had things played out differently.
Should Durant have re-joined Golden State?
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
When Durant left Oklahoma City to join Golden State in free agency in 2016, he instantly became a villain. It’s a title he never wanted. He has long scoffed at the fickle narratives surrounding superstars.
If a player doesn’t win a championship, his legacy is called into question. If a player joins a superteam, he’s a bandwagoner who will forever have an asterisk next to any titles he wins. If a player leaves a superteam, he’s dumb. There’s no winning.
Durant went from being a beloved darling of the league who won an MVP with the Thunder in 2014 and tugged at fans’ heartstrings as he tearfully thanked his mother during his awards speech, to becoming someone who was ridiculed as traitorous for forming a superteam alongside Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
During his time with the Warriors, he became a two-time champion in 2017 and 2018 and was named the MVP of the Finals both years. But he grew wary of the questions over whether he could’ve won a title without Curry, his relationship with Green eventually soured and after suffering a torn Achilles tendon in Game 5 of the 2019 Finals, he decided to leave Golden State in free agency to join Brooklyn.
Since Durant left the Warriors, he has struggled. His Nets, who were expected to compete for a championship, are considered one of the most underperforming teams in NBA history. And the Suns were never able to figure things out despite their superstar-laden roster.
Durant tried to tough things out with the Suns, hoping things would turn around. When pundits were speculating that he was unhappy in Phoenix in Jan. 2024, he set the record straight, telling me, “I don’t want to get traded.” But the Suns stunned him last February, when they negotiated a deal that would’ve sent him back to Golden State at the trade deadline.
Durant vetoed it, wanting to finish out the season with the Suns before reevaluating his future. But was that the right call?
Years had passed since all the Warriors drama and things could’ve been different this time around. At this stage in Durant’s career, rejoining the Warriors would’ve been viewed more like poetic symmetry than treachery.
And it could’ve worked.
Durant, Curry and Green are more mature, and as they approach the sunset of their careers, they deeply understand how difficult it is to win a championship. Together, they could’ve put it all on the line for themselves — and each other.
Curry, like Durant, hasn’t slowed down despite being 37 years old. And Durant and Green have long buried the hatchet, with Durant even making an appearance on Green’s podcast.
The trio would’ve been much older, but they undeniably would’ve still been formidable.
The thing is Durant never had any regrets over his decision to leave the Warriors, even after they won their fourth championship in eight years in 2022 while his Nets were swept out of the first round of the playoffs.
“Hell, no,” Durant told me in April 2023. “I don’t regret anything I do.”
And now, Durant clearly wanted to look forward instead of backwards.
While Green jumped at the opportunity to have Durant rejoin the team, Durant claimed he vetoed the trade because of its timing rather than the destination, adding that he didn’t want to leave the Suns midseason.
Green wasn’t surprised Durant squashed the trade.
“No, not at all,” he told me in February, “Makes all the sense in the world.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr echoed that sentiment.
“I don’t blame Kevin one bit for not wanting to rerun things here,” Kerr told ESPN. “He took so much s— for like, ‘Oh, you’re jumping on the bandwagon’. And then he’s Finals MVP two years in a row. It’s like he still gets criticized. … So why would he want to face all that B.S. again?”
While Durant’s decision was understandable, it might be regrettable.
It would’ve been really cool if Durant, Curry and Green finished their careers together. And the truth is, they could’ve been really good.
Should Durant have considered joining the Timberwolves?
(Photo by Kelsey Grant/Getty Images)
The love and respect between Durant and Anthony Edwards is palpable.
I recently asked Durant who brings out the best in him. “I’d say Ant,” Durant told me in January. ” Just because of his energy every day. The pace that he plays at. The pace that he works out at. The s— that he talks. He gives everybody energy.”
When I asked Edwards if he was surprised that Durant named him instead of, say, James or Curry, the ever-confident 23-year-old didn’t hesitate.
“He telling the truth,” Edwards told me. “That’s like my big brother, man. I love KD. He’s my favorite player of all time, so I appreciate that, for sure.”
Chemistry is so much of what makes a team great. So many superteams have failed, something Durant knows all too well. (Read: His stints in Brooklyn and Phoenix.) The X-factor is either there or it’s not.
With Durant and Edwards, it’s hard to imagine the duo would’ve been anything but exceptional. They like each other. They push each other. Edwards deeply admires Durant. Durant feeds off of that love.
Edwards even took issue with the narrative that Durant isn’t a good leader, telling me, “I think it’s bulls–t.”
This much is for sure: They’d be virtually unstoppable on the court, a prolific scoring duo that would’ve given defenses fits.
Durant averaged at least 25 points, 50 field goal shooting and 40 percent on 3s in three straight seasons, the longest streak ever, according to ESPN Research. Edwards, a two-way star who is often likened to a young Michael Jordan, averaged career-highs in points (27.6) and 3-point percentage (39.5%) last season while carrying the Timberwolves to their second straight Western Conference Finals.
The Timberwolves could’ve put together an attractive package to get Durant, including potentially dealing Rudy Gobert or Julius Randle.
But Durant wasn’t interested in going to Minnesota.
Was that a mistake?
What if Durant had landed in San Antonio?
(Photo by Jari Pestelacci/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Now, a player can only control so much when it comes to a trade, including a player of Durant’s caliber who commands a huge amount of respect and whose wish-list will be honored as much as possible.
San Antonio was among Durant’s top picks, a thrilling prospect for basketball fans who can only imagine how fun a team would’ve been with Durant, Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox.
It’s arguable that going to San Antonio would’ve given Durant his best-possible chance to win his third championship.
The Spurs would’ve had elite ball-handling, scoring and rim protection.
And if a deal had been made, it would’ve resuscitated not only Durant’s career but also the Spurs, who have won five championships and made 22-straight playoff appearances before missing the postseason the last six seasons.
But the Spurs apparently wanted to focus on building around Wembanyama and Fox using their current roster and their draft picks.
San Antonio owns the No. 2 and No. 14 picks in Wednesday’s NBA draft and they have the Rookie of the Year in Stephon Castle.
Still, Durant, Wembanyama and Fox would’ve been a thrilling trio.
But, alas, Durant landed in Houston, not Golden State, Minnesota or San Antonio.
And now we must wait to see if he can transform what’s seemingly a less enticing destination into a place that can regalvanize his career.
Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.
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