In the end the trade happened in classic Kevin Durant fashion, capturing the attention of everybody as he himself took part at a Fanatics event and was actually on stage when news broke that the Phoenix Suns had traded him to the Houston Rockets. Bringing the curtain down on an exciting - but ultimately underwhelming - two-and-a-half-year stay in The Valley.
The return? Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the 10th pick in this Wednesday's NBA Draft and five second-round picks. When you consider what the Memphis Grizzlies recently convinced the Orlando Magic to part with - four firsts plus a swap and two players for Desmond Bane - this feels like a huge disappointment.
Despite being 36-years-old, the Suns are massive losers in this trade.
Failing to get their own draft pick back from the Rockets in 2026 - what surely should have been a starting point in negotiations - has new General Manager Brian Gregory with egg on his face in what is his first big move running the organization. Five second-round draft picks is a whole bunch of nothing too - and while the Suns have a nice record in the draft recently - this is still a disaster.
Blockbuster trade on the final day of the NBA season. The Suns engaged in deep conversations with the two Durant finalists -- Houston and Miami -- over the last 24 hours and reached agreement on the deal Sunday morning. https://t.co/2rZedTD6q1
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 22, 2025
To not get one of Jabari Smith Jr., Cam Whitmore or Tari Eason - three young prospects who could really excel given a change of scenery - makes this even worse. The best player that is heading to Phoenix in Jalen Green is coming off a baptism of fire in the playoffs. One which saw him put 38 points on the Golden State Warriors in one game, before struggling the rest of the series.
His fit next to Devin Booker is questionable, while Dillon Brooks doesn't exactly move the needle either. The team ranked 27th in defensive rating in Durant's final season with the Suns - giving up 117.7 points per game - yet they might somehow be worse next season. Giving head coach Jordan Ott a blank slate to start over with sounds great in theory, but this is even worse than that.
With Booker still in Phoenix they are trying to re-tool, and this attempt has gone very badly. Incredibly, the Suns are also even further into the second apron than they were before, thanks to the money that they have taken on from this deal. A lot could change throughout the offseason - but for now at least - making their cap sheet even worse while losing Durant for next to nothing is criminal.
We warned that Jalen Green should be a player to avoid in a potential Kevin Durant trade with the Rockets, but he’s headed to Phoenix for Kevin Durant (✍🏻 @LucaLockheart)https://t.co/fyNxsbGseA
— Valley of the Suns (@ValleyoftheSuns) June 22, 2025
From the perspective of the Rockets this is obviously an A+ deal, they didn't have to give up their second tier of young players, and they still have Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun. They looked like a Durant away from making some real playoff noise - and in effectively swapping Green out to make that happen - are primed to be a problem in the Western Conference next season.
For the Suns, they've lost Durant for cents on the dollar, still employ Bradley Beal and are no more flexibile financially than before the deal went down. This is a dreadful start for Gregory as GM and owner Mat Ishbia's promise to be more involved in the running of the team. A truly dark day in The Valley, while there's a party going on over in Brooklyn.