How Kevin Durant FORCED Suns Hand In Trade To Rockets | Will KD Take PAY CUT For Houston?

How Kevin Durant FORCED Suns Hand In Trade To Rockets | Will KD Take PAY CUT For Houston?

on today’s show reports of how Kevin Durant forced the Sun’s hand in trade negotiations with the Rockets and KD possibly willing to take less than the max on his extension and how that helps the Rockets with their salary cap flexibility moving forward it’s all coming up right here at Locked on Rockets this is mission control Houston ignition sequence start 6 5 4 3 2 1 What’s up and welcome to another edition of Locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball as always I’m your host Jackson Gatlin native Houstononian and credentialed media member i’m also the host of Locked On Thursdays be sure to follow along wherever you listen to your podcast or on YouTube just search Locked on Rockets where the best way you can help us grow our show is to listen every single day on a podcast platform of your choosing and then like comment subscribe on YouTube now today’s episode is brought to you by Monarch Money take control of your finances with Monarch Money use code lockdown at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year and as always thanks so much for making Lockdown Rockets part of your day every single day whether it’s on your way to work on your lunch break in the gym thank you so much for being an everydayer on today’s show more Kevin Durant talk it’s not going away anytime soon there’s going to be a lot of Kevin Durant talk in the coming days and weeks here on our show uh later on we will talk a little bit about some of the specifics on these second round picks that the Rockets gave up and how they might actually try to get creative with second round picks uh in this year’s NBA draft due to some of the salary cap ramifications that they’re going to be dealing with a little bit further down the line as well as reporting on Fred Vanble’s possible contract renegotiation and then uh we’re going to be getting into a couple bit bits of reporting from uh Brian Winhorst and Sham Shirania uh the first of which about how Kevin Durant Durant forced the Phoenix Suns hand in these trade negotiations with the Rockets and then also that KD might be willing to take less than his maximum available salary in an extension with the Rockets and how that really helps Houston with their salary cap gymnastics moving forward so let’s start with the bit of reporting by Brian Winhorse let’s run that back really quick i just have the audio i can’t play the video because they’ve run like highlight clips during ESPN so here’s the audio of Brian Winhorse talking about the KD situation for Houston we don’t have a problem actually we’re the opposite of a problem so last summer the Rockets made it a very interesting trade a trade we’ve never seen before they traded some of the picks that they owned from the Nets back to Brooklyn which cleared the way for them to tank which they did this year they got the eighth pick and they got picks that the of the Suns they got three two two picks and a swap and as soon as that happened people said “I think they’re trying to get Kevin Durant.” And all year long the Rockets said “Not really we’re not you know we love Kevin Durant but he’s in his mid30s we got this team in the 20s we’re not we’re not really going for him.” And some people thought “Oh it’s because they really want Devin Booker.” I believed I believed Rafel Stone when he said this by the way he said this publicly he said it privately too he said it publicly because I believe that he wanted to have his young team grow but something happened the last few weeks one you’re dead on eudoka we had him in Brooklyn rael Ivy’s on the staff he was his teammate at Texas he wanted him he went to ownership and said and front office and said “Can we get Kevin Durant get him?” The other thing was they couldn’t say no to the price the price was just so low they just couldn’t say no it’s meant to say “Look what they still have on their roster.” So they now have optionality they can say “Let’s keep letting Nan Thompson develop let’s keep letting Jabari Smith by the way tar Een Tar Een they love Tar Een there he could be the guy who replaces Dylan Brooks as key defender so now they can get Kevin Durant get themselves better and still have these pieces that they can keep or trade.” So the Rockets had this happen because Kevin Durant controlled this process last winter the Warriors were ready to trade for him and he said “I don’t want to go there.” And they backed off last week the Timberwolves were on the verge of trading for him i don’t want to go there i don’t want to go there and Aunt Edwards and Aunt Edwards could have tried to talk him into it he did not said “That’s not my place kd you do what you do.” And so the the price came down the Rockets moved in that’s how you elevate yourself as a team you buy You buy low and you have a great opportunity so a couple things to take away from this first and foremost is that Kevin Durant very much controlled his destiny in these trade discussions by basically telling the Suns “Hey I don’t want to go here i don’t want to go here.” Narrowing down the list of teams so finely that it eventually it went down to just the Spurs the Rockets and the Miami Heat however it from the other reporting that’s kind of you know come out about this it doesn’t really feel like the Spurs were ever a serious threat to land Kevin Durant and more that the offers were just kind of like you know lukewarm interest there if possible so it really kind of boiled down to the Rockets and the Heat and with the Heat so unwilling to part with some of the specific players that the Suns were interested in as well as the reports that they didn’t even want to let go of this year’s first round draft pick it really boiled down to hey you know Kevin Durant stalled out long enough and was able to force the Suns hand into trading him to the Rockets and Rafel Stone didn’t blink at any point when the Suns were trying to negotiate trying to ask for more trying to ask for Jabari Smith Jr or one of the two future Suns picks he didn’t blink stared them straight in the face and got the deal done for just Jaylen Green Dylan Brooks and the 10th overall selection and honestly the first offer that was probably on the table from the Rockets was probably something more akin to the Jaylen Green salary filler and 10th overall pick offer that we’ve discussed on the show and then ultimately the Suns come back they counter with hey we want Jabari we want one of those future picks and then you know through the negotiating you know they they kind of settled somewhere in the middle and they were like “All right fine we’ll include Dylan Brooks but you’re not getting Jabari you’re not getting Tari you’re not getting Reed and you’re definitely not getting any of those future picks.” And that was just the best offer that the Suns could do honestly the Rockets just took him out to the woodshed like just completely fleece the Suns in this deal for KD um so Katie very much a strong voice in you know in this entire saga ultimately dictating where he landed and when you saw the live reaction if you haven’t seen it it’s all over social media go check it out but that live reaction of KD at uh Fanatics Fest like reacting not not him on the stage reacting to the news but like the behind the scenes of him like you know dapping up uh who was it rich Kimman i I can’t remember who it was uh his agent somebody um and just being so excited about the news and then he goes on you know there’s the the video that’s circulated on social media where he throws up the H and he’s just really excited and happy kd wanted to be here in Houston and we started looking at this and speculating this all the way back during the regular season around the trade deadline when those when these reports initially surfaced that the Rockets might have been kicking the tires on a KD trade and especially in the aftermath of that game in Houston where KD like completely popped off and was like unguardable but the Rockets still managed to win kd was so complimentary of all the Rockets young players of what Eime Odoka has created here in Houston we knew about their prior relationship the fact that Eay has coached KD in Brooklyn at USA Basketball the other existing relationships that KD has with this organization with going all the way back to you know with Royale Ivy as a teammate another UT alum as well dj Augustine another former UT alum who reportedly just recently joined the Houston Rockets front office although that’s not fully confirmed yet just a report out there um former teammate Jeff Green former teammate Steven Adams and the biggest takeaway here is that Eime Odoka wanted this emeoka pushed for this emodoka wanted Kevin Durant in Houston and so Emodoka got what he wanted emodoka has a lot of weight to throw around in this Rockets organization and the decision-making and the direction of this organization and it kind of feels like this might be not necessarily like a turning of the tides but you know there was two years there right where they really tried to make it work with the young guys where they really did give Jaylen Green an ample opportunity to try and flourish and show that he could be the 1A scorer that they needed him to be and that two years was enough for Emmy Odoka to look at the situation to evaluate his playoff performance to to knot off my question to Rafel Stone about Jaylen Green’s onoff numbers and to then you know essentially cut bait and say you know what it’s time to move on go get me KD so that we can try to win a title here in Houston right now so Emodoka really throwing his weight around making this situation happen is what it sounds like um coming up want to get into the reporting from Sham Shirania that Kevin Durant might be willing to take less than the max on his possible extension with the Houston Rockets and how that helps them with their salary cap logistics moving forward we’re going to get there in just one moment first today’s episode is brought to you by Ollipop look Lollipop is a new kind of soda made for people who love the classic taste of soda but want something that actually supports their health with just 2 to 5 grams of sugar and 9 g of prebiotic fiber in every can Lollipop is reimagining soda in a way that’s better for your gut traditional sodas are loaded with sugar like 39 grams in a regular Coke or 44 grams in an orange Fanta lollipop flips that script with just a fraction of the sugar no artificial sweeteners and gut friendly ingredients like Olly Smart a blend shown to support digestive and overall health it’s soda that tastes like the real thing but actually does something good for your body look my entire life I’ve been a sodafhi just just chugging like Dr peppers and Cokes left right and center so when I was first introduced to Lollipop I was a little skeptical then I tried it and I was like “Wow this is actually really good.” And knowing that it’s good for my body that it has one/ird of my daily fiber intake in each can is enough of the push that I need to be able to make the switch and not to mention all the incredible flavors that they have apple grape the vintage cola is probably my go-to honestly of all their flavors but right now in front of me I’ve got the uh what am I sipping on right now the classic root beer flavor this one’s really solid um great you know tastes like tastes like regular root beer it’s honestly awesome you can check out Ollipop yourself get yourself a free can of Lollipop just buy any two cans in store and they’ll reimburse you for one head to drink.com/lockonba to claim your free can and findop near you that’s drinkallipop.comlockedonba and continuing on here at Locked OnRockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball let’s get to our next little bit of reporting here uh from Sham Shirania who was on the Pat McAfee show basically you know sharing the fact that Kevin Durant wants to be in Houston long term and may be willing to actually sacrifice some money in order to make that a reality honestly the jewel of all this was the number 10 overall pick in the draft and you talk about like why now why did this trade happen now the trade happen now because the NBA draft is two days away uh the the Suns have to get moving on getting draft prospects getting intel getting them into their facility so that’s really the next step uh for for the Suns so I think the totality of the deal for from the Rockets perspective just outweighed anything that anyone else could offer and listen Pat at the end of the day Kevin Durant had a lot of voice in this and he made it clear where he wanted to go he made it clear where he didn’t want to go and teams heard it the Suns heard it and he had leverage because he had one year and $54 million left on his deal and in the NBA when you’re at that caliber of player and you’re on an expiring contract you have some level of sway in a conversation and if a team wanted to make a swing at him without his assurance or a commitment they could have but no one did okay so is Houston going to give him an extension or is he play this out how’s that work i I I that will be a conversation i I do expect Kevin Durant his business uh manager Rich Kimman and the Rockets to have those formal discussions on an extension um I don’t know if it’ll be this week but I expect at some point in July and August uh that’s a conversation that will happen and listen Kevin Durant is eligible for I think it’s a two-year $121 million extension like will it be all of that will it be a part of that like it would not surprise me to see how you know Kevin Durant is approaching this this is a partnership i think this is there’s a goal in mind here to end his career in Houston on both sides on both fronts and how can both sides be best suited to do that in a way Pat in the NBA now like we’re throwing words like second apron first apron i mean what the NBA is dealing with right now what teams are dealing with is is essentially some version of a hard cap and so uh how can he make it easy on Houston how can Houston do right by him i think that will be a conversation at some point this offseason congrats to KD he’s being He’s 37 right everybody talking about his age talking about his age he He’s 37 years old in basketball and uh he’s still got 120 million bucks waiting on him two years for two years if he won way to go K you earned it buddy games has been aging aging with grace yeah absolutely and he goes to a team where he doesn’t he’s just Okay I’m done with the rest of that clip from the Pat McAfee show i’m all good i just wanted to hear what Shams had to say all right so this is important like honestly this is pretty massive news that and Shams wouldn’t just throw this around lightly like he’s not just like “Yeah maybe he’ll like take le.” No if if Shams shares a bit of information a piece of intel like this it absolutely has legs and so I think it’s really important to note this here because the Rockets are certainly after acquiring Kevin Durant and honestly the Rockets would have been in this position without acquiring Kevin Durant because this is the issue with Alper and Shingun and Jaylen Green’s rookie scale extensions kicking in and and suddenly they’re being paid big boy bucks is the Rockets suddenly become a team you know right up against or or going over that first apron and because of NBA salary cap gymnastics and all the restrictions and stuff that get applied to teams that go over the first apron or then go you know go into the luxury tax or break over the second apron like all the restrictions that are currently placed on these teams it can become really difficult to field a highlevel competitive roster if you are bleeding money left and right trying to pay big bucks to maybe an aging superstar like Kevin Durant so the idea that he might be willing to sacrifice a little bit not in the immediate here and now obviously because there’s nothing he can do about the 54.7 on this current contract like that’s that’s set in stone but if he’s willing to ink an extension for two or maybe three years and it clocks in at significantly less than what his max topdoll salary would ultimately be then that is a huge saving grace for the Rockets who could then be able to afford and keep all of this young talent that they’d be that they’re currently surrounding Katie with in the first place and based on how these negotiations took place and the fact that there were other teams that were willing to take a flyer on Katie other teams that were willing like the Minnesota Timberls right who were possibly willing to gut their team by by sacrificing Gobear and Demon Chenzo and you know going after KD that way kd didn’t want that right this this isn’t a situation where he didn’t want to like when the Suns originally got him right the Suns had to gut some of what made that team special by sacrificing Male Bridges and Cam Johnson and and the future draft capital in order to get KD in the first place this is going to be the first time in in in these past couple teams that KD’s been a part of where the teams themselves don’t have to gut their roster their identity in order to add him to what they’ve already built right it’ll be very similar to when KD went to the Warriors and the Warriors were already the Warriors they already won 73 games and then they added Kevin Durant to the mix without sacrificing much if anything else right i think they like had to jettison Andrew Bogat or something like that like they they did some stuff to make the numbers work but for the Rockets if you could clock in KD at something like three years $120 million so he’s making like an average annual salary of like 40 million a year instead of two years $120 million extension you know an average annual salary of less than 20 million a year like I don’t know if Katie’s willing to sacrifice that much money at the end of the day but it’s still guaranteed money and maybe the Rockets take a look at it and they’re like “Look you know we want to give you this extension but you know two years from now you’re going to be turning 40.” like we can give you three years and you’ll still get the same amount of guaranteed money but it’s at a much lower average annual hit in order to save the Rockets those cap ramifications down the line giving them some of that flexibility so maybe that’s a route that they ultimately go we’re going to hear more about Kevin Durant and this possible you know these possible extension discussions and what it’s going to look like what his long-term future is going to look like here in Houston but the fact that Eime Udoka wanted KD as badly as he did the fact that KD wanted Houston as badly as he did like this was his preferred destination and all signs point to the fact that this was his number one destination all along and you can sift back through the tea leaves of the last like 6 months and really identify and hone in and be like “Yeah like KD to Houston the writing has been on the wall for this for ages right even if the Rockets were projecting something completely different and they’re like “Yeah we own the Suns picks but no we’re not interested in KD.” Like anybody that’s talked with members of the Rockets front office you know knows how internally high they are or ha and have been for a very long time on Kevin Durant and they made that dream a reality they added him emodoko was probably the final push to make it happen to basically be like “No go get me KD that’s who I want that’s who we need to be able to contend at the highest level and the idea that Katie wants to retire in Houston right the idea that this is a partnership that KD understands that there’s going to need to be some sacrifice on his end in order for this Rockets team to achieve what they ultimately want to achieve which the reality of the situation is that at least while KD is still playing you know these last two three four years whatever his career has as he’s winding things down the reality is the expectation for this Houston Rockets team becomes championship or bust like they are in win now title contention mode and that’s a tough mode to be in but it’s also going to provide invaluable experience for the young guys to be able to play alongside Kevin Durant to be in those high lever situations to have some deep playoff runs where even if the Rockets don’t ultimately win a championship in these next two or three years if they have multiple conference finals appearances or even you know a couple one or two finals appearances in these next two years even if they don’t escape with a title which is the ultimate goal all of that experience is going to be so important for Alper and Shingun Amin Thompson Jabari Tari Cam Reed everybody up and down the lineup in order to be ready for the post KD Rockets era whatever that may look like when the time comes a little bit further down the line so some really encouraging stuff here uh and of course we’ll keep you posted for all the contract negotiations and all that stuff whenever the the rumors and intel start spinning around on that front but coming up we do have a little bit of reporting on the Rockets situation with Fred Van Vleet’s contract and that they are not fully sold on renegotiating a new deal as well as the specifics on the second round draft picks that are going to be given up in the Kevin Durant trade and more we’re going to get there in just one moment first today’s episode is brought to you by Monarch Money you ever check your bank account and wonder where did all my money go it’s really annoying when that happens right but between dining out online shopping and entertainment costs it can be really easy to lose track that’s where Monarch Money comes in your personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances monarch Money isn’t just a budgeting app it’s a complete financial command center you can track all your accounts investments and spending in one place so you stop just managing your money and start building your wealth when I started using Monarch I was frankly upset at myself and a little embarrassed about how much money I was spending on food dining out at restaurants fast food delivery all that stuff it was it was an obscene amount now I budget smarter and I save more so take control of your finances with Monarch Money use code locked on NBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year that’s monarchmoney.com code locked on NBA for half off your first year and final segment here at Locked On Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball now I do have to apologize cuz I think this info was out there but I was so I just wanted to get to the KD reaction pod i didn’t have it like squarely in front of me at the time um I was also still just a little bit hung over from my birthday on Saturday so I woke up late to the KD news so that’s on me i apologize uh but we are locked in and we are covering everything now but uh the second round picks included in this KD deal not that like the second round picks are a big deal um and again they were they were probably included like after the fact when it was like okay you’re not going to give us you know the 27 or the 29 pick back like just just just give us some seconds so that it doesn’t look as bad that we we got fleeced right and that was probably the the discussion coming from the Suns and Stone was like “All right here’s here’s like five seconds that we don’t really care about.” But those second round picks from Houston are as follows it’s the Rockets second round pick in 2032 it’s Boston’s second round pick in 2030 it’s the 59th pick in this year’s draft and then two second rounders in 2026 that are contingent on like some like swap rights and some other miscellaneous stuff so it’s like hard to pin pin down exactly what they will be um but uh yeah so five second round picks now what what is interesting about this as a as a dynamic to consider for the Rockets because of the cap logistics and and my hope is that we’ll have I say my hope I’m trying to get a a cap guru guest on the show because I understand NBA salary cap stuff to an extent but I am by no means an expert and I don’t pretend to be i have a working knowledge of that stuff i would like to bring in somebody who is very insightful with that stuff to give us a little bit of guidance into what the future kind of holds for the Rockets and how so many of these you know delicate going ons with the numbers can impact the future of this organization but with that um you know so potentially on the lookout for that later this week as an episode kind of breaking down the the the money side of things but where I think the Rockets do have an interesting option here is so they are completely without a pick in this year’s draft so like don’t expect a draft preview pot on this on this channel it’s not happening they got nothing going on they are still apparently though on social media they have confirmed the Rockets are still hosting their draft party because they will still be technically making a selection at number 10 overall and in fact I guess technically they’ll still be making a selection at 59 overall as well although the understanding is that those picks are whoever’s being selected with those picks are are being selected by the Phoenix Suns all that mess so there’ll still be a draft party i don’t know it’s weird it’s a weird dynamic uh with that I think an interesting angle to consider here for the Rockets and one that probably has some legs that that I would fully expect Rafelstone Eli Whitis and the rest of the Rockets front office to be exploring is the idea of buying back into the second round of this year’s NBA draft in order to have a second round draft pick that clocks in at a lower average annual value than signing you know somebody to just a a blanket vet minimum or potentially you know acquiring um you know a couple undrafted prospects like there are options here for the Rockets to flesh out the end of their the end of their bench and the rest of their roster because reality is you know they they are potentially at least right now right aaron Holiday has a team option jock Landale has you know essentially it’s a team option his his contract’s fully non-g guaranteed and the Rockets can choose to just not pick up the guarantees and let him walk away for nothing so effectively it’s a team option uh Jeff Green’s an unrestricted free agent jan Tate is an unrestricted free agent so those are the four key members of the stay ready crew right and each one of those guys played a significant role at one point or another in this past NBA season when you know guys were missing time due to injury or you know you just needed a guy to step up or maybe you know guys resting on second nights of backtobacks that kind of thing and so the Rockets could just really easily like just pick up the options for Aaron Holidayiday and Jo Landale and bring them both back i it’s going to be tough to stomach the idea of bringing back Jock Landale and his $8 million salary as the third string center that really doesn’t have a role on this team anymore given the fact that you’re going to want to play Shingun and Adams as much as possible and maybe even some small ball five minutes for Jabari it doesn’t really seem like Jock Landel serves much of a purpose anymore on this team so I could really easily see them just flat out moving on from that contract or potentially picking up the option on that deal and then sending it somewhere else in a trade to a team that does want some salary cap relief that wants to be able to get off some of that money um maybe they could do something you know creative with it and turn it into a TPE or something like that but for the other couple names on that list right I think it would be really important for them to try to retain and bring back Jan Tate but are you going to be able to do that is he going to be able to is he going to be willing to accept a vet minimum you know that’s that’s a significant drop in pay rate from what he was making close to about 7 million a year and there’s probably some other teams out there that might be interested in acquiring Jan Tate as you know kind of a fringe rotation guy maybe as an eighth or ninth or tenth man in somebody’s rotation as opposed to the end of the bench you know stay ready crew captain that he is here for the Houston Rockets although maybe he loves it enough here in Houston that he doesn’t want to go anywhere and he’s willing to sacrifice a little bit of money and take a vet minimum deal to stay here in Houston same goes for Jeff Green i’d fully expect the Rockets to retain Jeff Green on a vet minimum deal he’s a great locker room guy uh great longtime friendship with Kevin Durant i I’d fully expect him to stick around as well but if the Rockets look to buy back into the second round of this year’s NBA draft it gives them the opportunity to bring in uh you know maybe a more ready to go prospect somebody who spent you know four or five years in a collegiate program or you know a little bit of an older prospect coming from overseas possibly uh I really like the name Ryan Calbrinter i I love him um he is this like defensive nightmare of a big man traditional drop big uh he’s almost like a copy paste of young Brook Lopez and he’s working on his three ball so maybe he could be like a drop big with some five out spacing which isn’t really an archetype that the Rockets have on their roster right now so he could be a guy that they maybe try to target with a second round pick if they’re able to buy one and sneak their way back into the second round and then signing a player that could be you know a potential you know help or you know some end of the bench kind of supplement players uh with that second round pick or any undrafted guys that they look at highly uh and then the other thing here this little bit of reporting and it’s nothing crazy new here other than you know kind of the next big step for this Rockets team is figuring out the Fred Van Vleet contract and they’re on the clock they’ve got until June 30th to decide whether they pick up the option and he’s going to be making 45 mil next year or if they decline the option and renegotiate a new deal the way things are standing currently all signs are pointing towards and this is my understanding of the situation as well from everything that I’ve heard and and and been able to uh any information that I’ve been able to elicit is that they intend on declining and renegotiating and structuring a new deal with Fred Vanble Vleet um but Mark Stein was also reporting that it’s not completely off the table that they don’t just pick up the option and and roll the dice and go into this next season with Fred Van Vleet on the final year of this current contract and that would beg the question if the Rockets pick up the option on Fred Vanble’s deal the only reason that I could see them doing that is if they really think that they have a shot either later in this summer or at this upcoming next deadline to swing another big trade for a star player that they would need some serious serious cheddar cheese to be able to match in uh you know in in a trade discussion because otherwise there’s almost zero benefit to picking up Fred’s contract option it would it would very much it would throw the Rockets into the second apron they would be incredibly limited in what they could achieve around the roster they wouldn’t have access to the mid-level exception to be able to add one more rotation piece um it would severely hamstring their ability to really flesh out this roster and as we’ve seen throughout this past NBA campaign depth is everything and for a team that did just acquire 36-year-old Kevin Durant who will be 37 at the time the season starts depth is going to be very important i think you’ve got to go into this with the expectation that KD may miss a little bit of time now over the last two seasons he’s averaging 69 games played nice so with that like I’m not super worried about KD and like some like crazy bizarre season ending injury or whatever but you may have to like load manage him a little bit right let him sit out maybe some second nights of backto-backs maybe let him rest against some of the easier teams on the schedule and and at the end of the day Katie’s a hooper he’s not going to want to sit out games he’s not going to want to rest but the Rockets medical staff and Emo are going to have to try to rein him in a little bit because even if he only plays 60 or 65 games in the regular season that part of it doesn’t matter it’s about keeping him fresh for the playoffs and having a more well-rounded roster a deeper roster certainly helps with that so if the Rockets pick up that option for Fred Van Vleet I think it’s got to mean that they are eyeballing something a little bit further down the line it might not like that’s the crazy thing is the Rockets still have so many assets at their disposal so much young talent i’m not advocating for this in the slightest because I’d really like to see this team just go to war as is maybe add a a free agent shooter with the MLE once you get through you know renegotiating a deal with Fred all that good stuff um somebody like Luke Canard or Seth Curry or something like that but if they pick up that option for Fred Van Vleet it’s not completely out of the realm of the possibility that they may be going after Giannis i don’t think it’s going to happen but it could happen that’s all I’m going to say uh with that I will say that the the the number to look at for Fred right is if they if they can get Fred at you know 30 million or less per year on this new deal so something like 3 years 90 or you know 3 years 80 my sweet spot is like 3 years 75 i think Fred’s value caps probably at about 25 million a year um anything north of that starts to get a little too rich for my blood i I don’t think the Rockets want to really be paying Fred north of 25 million a year given his production given the fact that he just turned 31 given the fact that he’s an undersized guard going into the back half of his career like that’s a contract that would be you know sketch me out a little bit but Fred is also integral to the success of this team and for them to be able to compete at the highest level with KD which that’s that’s all it’s about now it’s all about contending now then you may have to you know spend a little bit more to be able to keep him around um on a contract that makes him happy long term but that’s kind of my sweet spot like three years 25 to $30 million so like anywhere from 75 to $90 million across three years maybe you do something where it’s like in descending uh you know order so you you frontload the contract a little bit there’s different ways that you could figure it out um but I’m curious i want your thoughts what would be your ideal contract for Fred Vanble would you like to see the Rockets buy back into the second round of this year’s NBA draft are there any second round prospects that you’re actually high on that you’d like the Rockets to potentially take a look at give me your thoughts in the comments as well as the thoughts on the reporting centered on KD and how he forced his way to Houston why Emodoka wanted him all that good stuff let me know your thoughts in the YouTube comments remember the best way to help us grow our show is to listen every single day on a podcast platform of your choosing and then like comment subscribe on YouTube but as always thank you so much for watching thank you so much for listening we look forward to having you back right here at Locked on Rockets your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball

How Kevin Durant FORCED Suns Hand In Trade To Rockets | Will KD Take PAY CUT For Houston?

Kevin Durant joins the Houston Rockets in a blockbuster trade. How will this reshape the NBA landscape?

Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) breaks down the Rockets’ acquisition of KD, analyzing the trade details and potential impact. The discussion covers Durant’s influence on the deal, Ime Udoka’s role in bringing him to Houston, and possible contract extension scenarios. Gatlin explores how this move shifts the Rockets from rebuilding to championship contention, while examining the implications for young talents like Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason.

Key topics include the second-round draft picks involved, Fred VanVleet’s contract situation, and strategies for maintaining roster flexibility. Will the Rockets’ bold move pay off with deep playoff runs? Tune in for expert analysis on Houston’s new era with Kevin Durant.

#Rockets #NBA #KevinDurant

📺 Subscribe On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnRockets

📲 Twitter: https://twitter.com/JTGatlin & https://twitter.com/LockedOnRockets

📲 Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jtgatlin.bsky.social

🎧 Follow/Subscribe/Listen:

Locked On Rockets Anywhere: https://linktr.ee/LockedOnRockets

Locked On NBA Anywhere: https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA

For your next listen, check out the Locked On NBA podcast, where the season never ends providing national expertise with a local perspective. Click HERE to listen now. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day.

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!

OLIPOP – Get a free can of OLIPOP! Just buy any two cans in store and they’ll reimburse you for one. Head to drinkolipop.com/LOCKEDONNBA to claim your free can and find OLIPOP near you.

SKIMS – Shop SKIMS Mens at SKIMS.com/lockedonnba. Let them know we sent you! After you place your order, select “podcast” in the survey and select our show in the dropdown menu that follows.

OpenPhone – Streamline and scale your customer communications with OpenPhone. Get 20% off your first 6 months at www.openphone.com/lockedonnba

WayFair – Give your home the refresh it needs with Wayfair. Head to Wayfair.com right now. Wayfair. Every style. Every home.

Monarch Money – Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnba for 50% off your first year

Gametime – Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.

FanDuel – Right now, new customers can get ONE HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

#HoustonRockets #Rockets #NBA #KevinDurant #AlperenSengun #JabariSmithJr #TariEason #AmenThompson #CamWhitmore #ReedSheppard #FredVanVleet #JeffGreen #StevenAdams #JaeSeanTate #JockLandale #AaronHoliday #NateWilliams #NFalyDante #JackMcVeigh