Day After - Kevin Durant Trade Grades

By Owen Pannell | KZA Sports

Trade Details

Rockets receive:

• Kevin Durant

Suns receive:

• Jalen Green

• Dillon Brooks

• 10th overall pick

• Five second-round picks

Rockets Grade: A-

This is a really good trade for the Rockets. They didn’t sacrifice their future, and they brought in someone who definitely makes them contenders. Jalen Green wasn’t a franchise-caliber No. 1 option, and they didn’t need to draft another young player at No. 10. If they can get one or two strong years out of KD, that could be enough to put them in title contention during that stretch.

My only knock is that Durant isn’t a long-term franchise cornerstone, so they’ll still need to find one eventually. I was hoping they could land someone like Giannis, but that may have been unrealistic.

This trade gives an elite defensive team—who finished as the No. 2 seed in a loaded Western Conference—one of the greatest scorers of all time. I can definitely see this team being scary next season. It should also help with Amen Thompson’s development; playing next to an elite scorer like KD will open up the floor for him to operate.

Even if this doesn’t work out and they fall short of contention, they didn’t mortgage their future to make this happen. Overall, it’s a win for Houston.

Suns Grade: B+

This is honestly a great return for a 36-year-old from a team that had absolutely zero leverage. I do wish they could’ve landed a future first-round pick or two. And it’s undeniably a big L that they didn’t at least get back one of their own future firsts.

Still, as I said, they had no leverage, and getting the 10th pick in a loaded draft class is a strong outcome. They also have the option to flip Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks for additional assets if they choose.

However, if I were grading this trade based on what they gave up for KD versus what they got in return, boy, it wouldn’t look pretty.

Now, the Suns need to trade Devin Booker, try to recoup their draft capital, and fully embrace the rebuild. It’s going to be a tough road ahead.

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