The Rockets Just Refused KD’s Demands

The Rockets Just Refused KD’s Demands

Kevin Durant used to be a cheat code. Turned the amazing Warriors into an unbeatable dynasty. Even the Nets might have won that championship without Kyrie and Harden because Kevin Durant was just that good. But since then, his impact is not the same. Even the Suns missed the 10 team playoffs with KD playing 62 games. So why is this dude demanding another Max contract? Well, ESPN says, “I don’t know if the Rockets are going to put anything on the table that’s close to the max for Kevin Durant, really.” So, what’s going to happen now? Is he going to threaten to leave the team, make things awkward? Because we have seen plenty of stars cause drama over money before. How terrible would it be to take this amazing Young Rockets team and ruin the whole thing over a KD contract dispute? And before you say, ah, that won’t happen. Katie’s max is 2 years, 119 million bucks. Because he’s over 38 years old at the end of the contract, the longest he can extend for is two seasons. The Rockets though have a habit of playing hard ball with their players. But the risk here is pissing dude off. I mean, everybody assumed that whoever won the KD trade would have to extend him. And that includes KD himself, but the Rockets have no plans to give in to his demands. Now, in the past, we have seen a guy like Jimmy Butler show up to training camp and make things uncomfortable. He showed up late for the Heat, said all the right things, but within a few months was making noise about being traded. Oh, but Katie’s never done that before. You’re right. Except he’s never had to negotiate a contract before. He’s always been just given the max, no questions asked. The one exception was a little pay cut on the Warriors for a short two-year deal. But how will he react if the Rockets offer a lot less like that report said? Well, we already know that KD is a guy who’s not afraid to speak his mind. Just last week, he got into yet another Twitter battle with a random fan. By the way, do not type in Kevin Durant Twitter battle into Google. You’ll get like 10 different answers. But this one was two random fans debating KD’s oldtime ranking. One guy says he’s nothing without Steph and the Warriors. So Durant jumps in and a fan says, “Hey man, get off Twitter for your mental health, which is clearly in a bad place right now.” And I kind of get that dude is just searching his own name to argue against fans at 5 a.m. They didn’t even tag him. He’s searching his name. So KD says, “How do you know where my mental is at?” Then a fan says, “Well, where will your mental be on opening night when you watch the team that gave you everything raise a banner after you left them high and dry?” Ooh, see the NBA savagely scheduled the Rockets at OKC game one ring night. So Kevin Durant’s going to have to stand there and watch his old team raise a banner in front of him. Total burn by that fan to which KD replies, “Finally, it’s been 10 years. It’s about time they win one lmao. Wow. Now later, Durant said, “I was just joking.” But Duke clearly is not afraid to speak his mind and make things uncomfortable. A contract situation could get ugly. That’s a lot more than just words on Twitter. So why are the Rockets going to risk this? They knew that if they traded for Kevin Durant, of course he’s going to want a max contract. Everyone knew that. Are they stupid? Actually, just the opposite. I would argue under GM Rafael Stone, the Rockets are the best run franchise in the NBA outside of Oklahoma City. Why? Because the Rockets get young players to take team friendly contracts left and right. Alen Goon, he said, “Oh, I want my max.” But he signed for 5 years, 185 million, a good 40 million below his max. Got Jaylen Green to sign for just 3 years instead of five. Jabari Smith Jr. is only going to make about 24 million per year, which is a bargain. In these days of all these young players overrating themselves, somehow the Rockets are able to squash that. Veteran players buy in, too. Fred Van Vleet just restructured his contract to give Houston more flexibility. Dorian Finny Smith left the Lakers for 4 years, 53 million, but uh in the fine print of that contract, only two of the years are guaranteed. So, how do the Rockets pull this off? I don’t know. But right now, the most valuable thing in the NBA today in this era, outside of having a top five player, is getting valuable team friendly contracts. See, under the new second apron rules, teams that overspend are punished harder and faster than ever. Basically, your depth gets destroyed. Your flexibility is gone. So, you’re stuck if anything goes wrong. Injuries, bad chemistry, whatever. It is such a big deal. Teams like Boston are willing to take apart their roster just to get under the second apron. Which means teams aren’t just collecting stars anymore. They have to have smart front offices that collect value, which Houston does better than anyone. A bad contract hurts more than ever. Yeah, well, the Rockets are not about to let a 38-year-old Kevin Durant make 60 plus million on their team. But didn’t KD know this before he got there? Why was there that video of him being so excited to become a Rocket? Well, yes, obviously he likes their young roster. He likes their coach, but also because dude had leverage. See, because Durant’s on an expiring contract, the Rockets would be stupid to deal assets and then not extend it because they would risk losing KD for nothing and wasting everything that they traded away. But it turns out KD’s leverage is not as strong as he thought it would be. The first reason is what the Rockets had to trade to begin with. Out was Jaylen Green, Dylan Brooks, that number 10 pick and seconds in Kevin Durant and Clint Capella. Jaylen Green, the most valuable thing in this trade, was really a number two overall pick who never lived up to expectations. Dylan Brooks was definitely good on for defense and toughness, but the number 10 pick, I mean, the Rockets didn’t even have time for the number three pick last year, Reed Shepard. What were they going to do with number 10? So, they didn’t give up all that much. Now, even if KD does leave after one year, the Rockets still have so much to use to replace him in a big trade. They control the Nets pick in 2027, the Suns picks 27 and 29, the Mavericks in 29 in a bunch of their own, meaning the team’s got valuable picks for the moment another superstar becomes available. Like I said, most well-run organization outside of OKC, KD just doesn’t have that leverage. But there is one weird wrinkle to all of this that explains why Houston is playing tough. They’ve got their sights set on 2027, and you can tell by looking at their salary books. It turns out the Rockets only have five guaranteed contracts on their books for that summer. They plan to use that money on a superstar free agent that summer or pay him a men Thompson what he’s worth if he continues to be elite. I mean look at Jabari Smith Jr’s contract. It weirdly like dips down in the summer of 2027 then shoots right back up again. You never see that. It couldn’t be more obvious that the Rockets are planning something huge for 2027. So KD is just the transition period until they get there. Maybe they can do something nice in between now and 2027, but he is not their final piece. I think the Rockets backup plan as of now is to go into this year without that new KD contract. Blow him away with a deep playoff run, proving those online haters wrong, he can win a title without Golden State. But on every team that Durant’s ever gone to, he has been the man. But on Houston, he’s just part of the story. He’s not the final piece. So if dude wants to get paid like that, he is about to get a big wakeup call about how much his value has actually changed in the NBA. How will he respond? But a guy who is on the rise is Victor Wimbanyama. Wimby is about to do something we have never seen in the NBA before for year three. The Spurs built honestly a very weird team around him, but if Wimby pulls this off, it could be the perfect fit.

Kevin Durant was just told “no” by the Houston Rockets and now people are speculating what it means for the future. This video will separate fact from fiction and look ahead for Durant just before training camp begins.