Trade Update: Suns Kevin Durant PRICE And TEAM, Plus Rockets Replacing Steven Adams?!

Trade Update: Suns Kevin Durant PRICE And TEAM, Plus Rockets Replacing Steven Adams?!

It’s a poorly kept secret that the Phoenix Suns are going to trade Kevin Durant, but the only real questions being what are they going to get in return and where are they going to send KD? Well, now we’ve got updates on both of those questions. Plus, the Houston Rockets already have a backup plan in mind should they lose Steven Adams. They’re going to replace him the middle with another familiar name. I’m Trevor Lane. This is the Basketball Bulletin. Make sure you subscribe right here to the channel right now. In fact, about 70% of you watching this are not subscribed. going to be a busy summer around the NBA. Make sure you hit that subscribe button. All right, let’s get into those. Kelly Eco of the Athletic uh jumping into the center position with the Houston Rockets said that should Stephen Adams leave, who is their top priority among their own free agents, but should Stephen Adams leave the Rockets this summer, which again the Rockets are going to do everything they can to keep him. But if he does leave, they would turn their attention to Brook Lopez. 37year-old Brook Lopez can shoot the three ball. 37% from three in Milwaukee. Pretty clear Milwaukee could look very, very different next season, particularly if Giannis Anttompo is moved. Rumors already flying that the Bucks are already looking into early draft prospects, which suggests again maybe we’re heading into a scenario where in the next few weeks, Giannis Antoupo is headed out of Milwaukee. So, if the Bucks are undergoing significant changes, it would make a lot of sense for Brook Lopez, again at 37 years old, to move on and find a new team. Perhaps the Houston Rockets would be that club. So, the Rockets already kind of have that backup plan in mind, but their plan A is to simply keep Stephen Adams. They also want to bring back Fred Van Vleet, although we’re going to get into in a minute why they actually may need to move on from him. $44.9 million team option, which could wind up being really important on the trade front. However, the Rockets are no longer as interested in Devin Booker as they have been in the past. They want to give Jaylen Green a chance to really blossom and they don’t see as big of a gap as they used to between Booker and Jaylen Green, particularly because Jaylen Green overall, despite his playoff performance, had a a pretty good season while Devin Booker had some struggles in Phoenix. But still, I think anybody who watched the Houston Rockets in the playoffs could say this team is screaming for somebody who can score the ball in the half court. The Rockets are completely reliant upon offensive rebounding. In fact, the Rockets are were number one in the NBA by a decent margin in offensive rebounds because they were in the bottom third in field goal percentage. They had to be a dominant offensive rebounding team because they just weren’t good enough of a shooting team in the half court. And you could see that play out in the playoffs. They had so many moments against the Golden State Warriors where they simply couldn’t put the ball in the basket. They could really use a guy like Kevin Durant. While he may not fit their young cors timeline, he is the exact skill set that that team needs in order to hit the next level. And they indeed, the two sides have been talking. According to Kelly Eeko, the Suns have been aggressive in the pursuit of trading Kevin Durant and regaining full control of their draft capital. Guess who has their draft capital? The Houston Rockets. Since the conclusion of the season, Houston has fielded several calls from Phoenix. That’s important. Phoenix is calling Houston, not the other way around, about a Kevin Durant trade and they have gradually lowered their asking price for KD. So, not only are the Suns a motivated seller on Kevin Durant, but they specifically have been contacting the Houston Rockets about a KD trade. That is also important. There is a price where the Rockets would be interested, but with a fear of breaking up their roster for a 36 year old coming off of injury, doubt remains over a deal materializing. In other words, the Rockets are saying, “We don’t want to break up our young core to go get a 36, 37y old Kevin Durant, even though his skill set does fit perfectly.” Now, why do the Suns want to send KD to Houston? Well, it’s because the Rockets have those draft picks. In fact, they have the Suns pick this year. It’s at number 10 overall. And rumors are that the Suns are actually after that pick. They want to get that pick back, the 10th pick back from the Houston Rockets. The Rockets also have the Suns 2027 first round pick. The Rockets also have their 2029 first round pick. Now, if it’s me, if I’m the Houston Rockets, would I give up the 10th pick for KD? Yeah, maybe. But then what salary are you putting into a deal? And I think that’s what’s going to trip up the Houston Rockets here. Yes, they could try to give up, you know, the 10th pick and then maybe expiring salary to get a guy like KD that is just an absolutely perfect fit for what the Houston Rockets need. I mean, this dude just lights it up so hyper efficient. That’s what the Rockets don’t have. They don’t have any efficiency right now in the half court. They don’t have anybody they can just throw the ball to that can get them a buck. And Kevin Durant can do exactly that. But the problem for the Rockets is they don’t want to give up their key pieces. They don’t want to give up certainly Alpin Sangon. Now, there’s another rumor out there that what the Phoenix Suns are looking for is not just getting their draft capital back, but they also want a starting caliber center. So, that’s where now we’re talking about a multi-team trade. Because if I’m the Houston Rockets, there’s no way in hell I’m giving up Alpine Senon. I’m not giving up Senon for Kevin Durant straight up if I’m the Houston Rockets. A 23-year-old center like him, I’m not parting with him in order to get going on 37year-old Kevin Durant. Just not happening. Now, could you talk me into something around Jaylen Green? Me personally, yeah, maybe. Maybe. But the Rockets do seem to really like Jaylen Green to the point where they’ve cooled on Deon Booker. So, I don’t think it’s all that realistic that the Rockets are going to want to do a Jaylen Green deal involving Kevin Durant. So, where does that leave us in a trade to land a piece that would clearly be an upgrade for the Rockets, would give them exactly what they need in the half court if he can stay healthy. know he doesn’t fit their timeline, but you know what? I think sometimes in the NBA, we get too focused on timelines. And because of that, we actually miss windows. And what happens is these young players, as they grow, as they develop, as they get better and better and better, next thing you know, you got to start paying these guys. What we’ve seen is NBA history is littered with teams that have that dangerous P word. I’m talking about potential to go somewhere and they don’t capitalize when they have the opportunity to because they believe that their window is wide open. They’ve got a long future and then sometimes it just never happens. Now Reed Shepard is projected to be a bigger part of the Rockets rotation next year. He can certainly help them a bit with their shooting, with their scoring. Thompson is is continuing to improve yearbyear. He’s been obviously phenomenal. They’re not going to part with him. So what do you do if you’re Houston? Well, you could build a deal. They’re so close to the first apron that they can’t deal with taking back more salary than they send out. Which is again why we’re probably going to see if this materializes a three or four or maybe even more team deal in order to make this happen. The Suns are going to need to send out salary. The Rockets are going to need to send out salary. But could you see something around Dylan Brooks? 30 years old. The Rockets maybe they can talk themselves into him not necessarily being part of that future timeline. 21 million this next season. 19.9 million the season after that. Good defensive player, fits the scheme in Houston, but if Kevin Durant comes on board, Brooks is probably going to lose a decent amount of those minutes anyway. What about Fred Van Vleet? That would go a long way towards getting there, towards getting to the money that Kevin Durant is going to take up if you’re going to trade for him. You look at KD right now under contract with the Phoenix Suns and he’s going to get you uh what, $54 million right now under contract with Phoenix. 54.7 million. So that’s a lot of salary that you got to send out if you’re Houston in order to make this kind of a deal materialize. Both the Rockets and the Suns have to send out more salary than they take back in any kind of a trade. So that means if you’re Houston, you would have to send out more than 54 million. So how do we get there now? if you are willing to, and I don’t know that Houston is, but if the if the Rockets might be willing to part with Fred Van Vleet in this deal, whether Van Vleet goes to the Suns or not, pick up that team option. 44.9 million, let’s call it. There you go. 44.9 million. You guarantee the 8 million bucks on Jock Land Land’s contract. Look, we know we know that the Suns want a starting center. Is that Landale? No, it’s not. But maybe again in a three-team deal, he goes somewhere else. And there you go. You’re right there. Aaron Holidayiday could pick up his $4.9 million option. Already rumors are that he’s gonna get potentially squeezed out with Reed Shepard expected to take a step next season. So there are paths to get to Kevin Durant to Houston. The question is, are you willing to part with say Fred Van Vleet in order to do it? Remember the Houston Rockets as of right now, unless they can save a significant amount of money in this Kevin Durant trade. If you could send out a couple of bigger salaries, but if they can’t, well then you’re so close to that first apron, you’re not going to have a full mid-level exception to use, but you should have enough flexibility to use a taxpayer mid-level exception of about $5.6 million. There are some guard options out there on the market to potentially replace Fred Vanble. I think there’s a path for the Rockets to land. Kevin Durant replace Fred Van Vleet’s production with one of the free agent guards out there. Maybe it’s somebody like a Dennis Shruder or someone like that. If you want to stay with a veteran option like a Malcolm Brogden is out there. Are these guys Fred Van Vleet level players? No. But it could be a net positive for the Rockets if you’re turning Dylan Brooks and Fred Van Vleet into Kevin Durant plus one of the free agent guards that’s out there. So, I think there really is a path here. The question is how much are the Rockets willing to give up? Are you giving back all of the Suns picks in order to make this happen? I’m not. I wouldn’t do it. But you could give up this year’s pick, a 10th overall. You could give up 2027, 2029 Phoenix picks. Again, I probably wouldn’t part with all of that, but one of those picks, sure, one of those picks, Dylan Brooks, Fred Van Vleet. Save a little money. Maybe that gets you the full MLE and then off you go. Particularly if you can find a team to dump those salaries on. Look, it’s not easy. It’s not easy. But one thing we’ve learned under the new CBA, nothing’s easy, but teams are finding ways, and that’s why we’re expecting this to be the summer of the trade. Teams are motivated to make things happen. We’re going to see a lot of moves take place that even though there these very restrictive new CBA rules in place. We saw it at the trade deadline. Teams are getting creative and they’re figuring out ways to get things done. very clearly the Phoenix Suns, they want to send Kevin Durant to Houston because they can get their own draft capital back. If I’m the Houston Rockets, though, I continue to play it exactly as they have been. Be a very lethargic buyer on Kevin Durant. You’re not sold on him. You’re not sold on his fit, on how he fits your timeline long term, and you try to drive a hard bargain with the Phoenix Suns team that very badly has to make a move. The Suns had a terrible season last year. It was awful. They looked joyless out there on the court. And with that being the case, they have to make changes. Meanwhile, the Houston Rockets, yes, they got bounced in the first round, but they can say, “Hey, we’re still young. Jaylen Green’s going to get better. Jabari Smith’s going to get better. Reed Shepard, Ahmed Thompson, we’ve got all these young guys. Alprin Senoon’s only 23 years old for crying out loud. We’re going to get better organically. We don’t have to do anything. We can rely on organic growth to get better. The Suns are the team that must do something. And yes, Kevin Durant is the perfect fit for what ails the Houston Rockets. It would be nice if he was younger, but you’re not getting him if he’s 32 years old. So, Durant would be a nice fit in Houston, but I think the Rockets are doing a great job the way they’re playing this right now. Would not shock me if at the end of this KD is indeed in Houston and the Rockets are able to maintain some of that Suns draft capital so they still have future moves up their sleeves. But everybody give me your thoughts in the comments down below. Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets. The Suns so aggressive in trying to ship KD that they’re already lowering their asking price on him. What do you think the Suns can actually get in return? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section down below. Don’t forget to subscribe right here to the channel. Till next time, see you and stay safe.

In this video Trevor Lane takes a look at the latest update on the Kevin Durant trade front, with the Phoenix Suns reportedly lowering their asking price and looking to send him to a specific landing spot….

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