Rockets Acquire Kevin Durant From Suns in Exchange for Dillon Brooks, Jalen Green, and Six Draft Picks
The Houston Rockets acquired Kevin Durant from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the 10th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, and five second round draft picks, but the transaction will not become official until July 6 when the NBA's new year begins*. Last season, the Rockets earned the second seed in the Western Conference with a 52-30 record before losing 4-3 in the first round to the Golden State Warriors; the Rockets were strong defensively, but they ranked just 21st in the league in field goal percentage (.455), and they shot .446 from the field in their playoff loss to the Warriors. The Rockets expect Durant's elite scoring and solid playmaking to provide a major boost to their anemic offense.
There is no disputing Durant's talent and productivity. The 2014 regular season MVP and two-time NBA champion/two-time NBA Finals MVP (2017, 2018) is a four-time regular season scoring champion (2010-12, 14) and five-time playoff scoring champion (2011, 2013-14, 2016, 2019) who ranks eighth in ABA-NBA regular season career points (30,571) and seventh in ABA-NBA playoff career points (4985). Durant owns the sixth highest ABA-NBA career regular season scoring average (27.2 ppg) and the fourth highest ABA-NBA career playoff scoring average (29.3 ppg). Durant, who turns 37 in September, averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds
and 4.2 assists in 62 games last season while becoming the ninth member of pro basketball's 30,000 point club. The future Hall of Famer has
averaged at least 25 ppg while shooting at least .500 from the field and at least .400 from three point range for three straight seasons, the longest such streak in ABA-NBA history.
Despite Durant's success, he has rarely seemed happy--let alone content--during his long and distinguished career. He fled Oklahoma City for Golden State in 2016 after leading the Thunder to game seven of the 2016 Western Conference Finals versus the Warriors, and then he orchestrated a move to Brooklyn in 2020 after winning two championships with the Warriors.
After Durant forced his way from Golden State to Brooklyn, I discussed his perpetual dissatisfaction:
There is a clear pattern here. Durant never feels happy or satisfied, no
matter how much those around him cater to his needs and his expressed
wants. The Thunder built their team around Durant, but he left; the
Warriors embraced Durant from day one, built their team around him, but
he left despite having the most successful all-around seasons of his
career. Durant's comment that Golden State could not "alter anything in
my basketball life" is odd, unless he values his individual honors and
achievements over team success: he did not obtain ultimate team success
until he joined a team that had already won a title just two years
before he arrived...
Durant may win multiple titles in Brooklyn, or he may not win any
titles. He may reestablish himself as an elite player after missing a
full season due to a significant injury, or he may never return to his
old form. Based on past experience, though, one thing seems certain: he
will not be happy--and that is sad.
Durant played just 129 games in three seasons with the Nets before
forcing his way to Phoenix, where he played just 145 games in three
seasons. Durant enjoyed his greatest team success in Oklahoma City and Golden State, and he has had very little team success since leaving the Warriors. Between 2011 and 2019, Durant played in the Western Conference
Finals six times, played in the NBA Finals four times, and won two
titles; his Warriors reached the 2019 Western Conference Finals but he
did not play due to injury, returning for one game in the 2019 NBA
Finals before rupturing his right Achilles, causing him to miss the rest
of the 2019 NBA Finals plus all of the 2019-20 regular season. Since leaving the Warriors, Durant has not reached the Conference Finals, he has advanced past the first round just twice, and he missed the playoffs last season. His post-Golden State resume includes a 2-4 playoff series record, and a 10-18 record in playoff games, including being on the wrong end of two first round sweeps.
It is understandable why the Rockets believe that acquiring Durant will improve their chances to win a title; they are already a big, physical, defensive-minded team, so adding a two-time champion who is an elite scorer seems to make their roster complete--but Durant has only made deep playoff runs when he was 30 or younger and playing alongside a dynamic, MVP-caliber guard (first Russell Westbrook, then Stephen Curry). Durant is seven years removed from his last deep playoff run, and the Rockets do not have--and do not seem likely to acquire--a dynamic, MVP-caliber guard.
Barring significant injuries, the Rockets are likely to win more than 50 games, and they should not lose again in the first round--but, beyond that, their future is less clear. Drama and discontent follow Durant, so it is premature to assume that the Rockets are a lock to reach the 2026 Western Conference Finals. The best case scenario is that Durant's efficient shooting opens up the floor for Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, and Fred VanVleet and that Durant is willing to buy in to Houston's gritty defensive style--but the worst case scenario is that within two years Durant is unhappy yet again and forcing his way out of town.
* July 7, 2025 update: The Durant trade has been consolidated into a record-setting seven team trade, with these terms, per NBA.com:
The Rockets receive:
Kevin Durant
Clint Capela
The Suns receive:
Jalen Green
Dillon Brooks
Khaman Maluach (No. 10 overall)
Rasheer Fleming (No. 31 overall)
Koby Brea (No. 41 overall)
Daequan Plowden
2026 second-round pick
2032 second-round pick
The Nets receive:
2026 second-round pick
2030 second-round pick
The Warriors receive:
Alex Toohey (No. 52 overall)
Jahmai Mashack (No. 59 overall)
The Hawks receive:
David Roddy
2031 second-round pick
Cash
The Lakers receive:
Adou Thiero (No. 36 overall)
Cash
Timberwolves receive:
Rocco Zikarsky (No. 45 overall)
2026 second-round pick
2032 second-round pick
Cash
Labels: Brooklyn Nets, Dillon Brooks, Houston Rockets, Jalen Green, Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns
posted by David Friedman @ 3:00 PM
Oh, Canada! Team USA Loses FIBA World Cup Bronze Medal Game to Canada in Overtime, 127-118
"We can't get no stops, so I don't know what we could have done"--Anthony Edwards, explaining Team USA's loss to Canada in the FIBA World Cup
Anthony Edwards' grammar is as fractured as Team USA's perimeter defense, but he provided a perfect one sentence summary of why Team USA failed to win a medal in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Team USA lost for the third time in their last four FIBA World Cup games, dropping a 127-118 overtime decision to Canada in the bronze medal game. Canada shot 43-84 (.512) from the field, including 17-37 (.459) from three point range. Team USA also shot well--42-81 (.519) from the field, including 10-27 (.370) from three point range--and even outrebounded Canada 43-40, but the key for Team USA to be successful in FIBA events is defense in general and perimeter defense in particular. Team USA failed spectacularly on defense.
Dillon Brooks shredded Team USA with a game-high 39 points on 12-18 field goal shooting, including 7-8 from three point range. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 31 points. Anthony Edwards led Team USA with 24 points, but it is telling that he had a plus/minus number of -20. Austin Reaves added 23 points, but he had a plus/minus number of -12. Team USA's best scorers gave up points even faster than they could score them.
Canada blitzed Team USA 35-24 in the first quarter, and led 94-84 with 8:26 remaining in the fourth quarter. Team USA went on a 12-0 run to take a 96-94 lead at the 6:23 mark, but Team USA never led by more than two points the rest of the way, and needed a series of unlikely events just to force overtime: Canada led 111-107 with four seconds remaining when Mikal Bridges made a free throw, intentionally missed the second free throw, rebounded his miss, and then made a three pointer. Team USA's excitement was short-lived, as Canada outscored Team USA 16-7 in the five minute overtime.
It is puzzling that so many people make excuses for Team USA's failures by mentioning that this was Team USA's "B Team" and by noting that Team USA lacked size. Team USA featured the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year (Jaren Jackson Jr.), the 2023 Rookie of the Year (Paolo Banchero), three 2023 NBA All-Stars (Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Halliburton, and Jaren Jackson Jr.) plus 2020 All-Star Brandon Ingram and rising star Jalen Brunson. Team USA's "B Team" has more individual talent than any other FIBA World Cup team.
The three teams that beat Team USA in the 2023 FIBA World Cup--Lithuania, Germany, and Canada--each had rosters filled with players who would not even be considered for Team USA's roster if they were American citizens. Germany, which has just four NBA players on its roster (Dennis Schroder,
Franz Wagner, Mo Wagner, and Daniel Theis), beat Serbia 83-77 to win the
FIBA World Cup.
In the Team USA-Canada game, Banchero, Ingram, and Jackson Jr. each received DNP--CDs (Did Not Play--Coach's Decision). Throughout the tournament, Team USA Coach Steve Kerr stubbornly insisted on playing small lineups, so even if more big men had been included on Team USA's roster it is unlikely that Kerr would have used them or used them effectively. Small-ball is not a great strategy in general because size matters in basketball, and small-ball can only work if the team is committed to playing excellent pressure defense resulting in turnovers and contested shots. Small-ball with bad perimeter defense leads to a 5-3 2023 FIBA World Cup record versus teams that have markedly inferior individual talent but more than compensate for that with superior execution of basketball fundamentals.
It must be emphasized that during the 2023 FIBA World Cup other teams also did not have their "A Team." Reigning NBA Finals MVP/two-time NBA regular season MVP Nikola Jokic did not play for Serbia--which reached the gold medal
game without him--and 2021 NBA Finals MVP/two-time NBA regular season Giannis Antetokounmpo did not play for Greece. Each of the past five
regular season MVPs were born outside of the United States, so it is
fair to say that the United States has neither the world's best
individual player nor the world's best team.
The NBA has legislated defense out of the game, and the results of that were on display during the FIBA World Cup when Team USA played horrific defense. The NBA game has been damaged by rules changes, style of play changes, and the ascent of "advanced basketball statistics" with its promotion of three pointers and dunks over all other shots plus its embrace of tanking and load management. Style is valued over substance, which leads to people spouting nonsense such as the assertion that James Harden is a better offensive player than Michael Jordan, and that one-dimensional scorers such as Carmelo Anthony, James Harden, and Damian Lillard deserve to be on the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team over players such as Chris Bosh, Adrian Dantley, Alex English, Artis Gilmore, Dwight Howard, Bernard King, and Tracy McGrady. No, Kyrie Irving is not the most skilled basketball player in the NBA now, let alone the most skilled basketball player of all-time--but the fact that so many people praise Irving so much betrays a lack of understanding of the difference between style and substance. Basketball is a team game, and basketball skill is properly measured by how effectively a player does things that maximize his team's chance to win. A limited definition of athleticism as it relates to basketball greatness and a lack of understanding of how to evaluate basketball skill contaminates basketball commentary.
Kobe Bryant was the most valuable player for the 2008 Redeem Team not only because of his individual athletic ability and basketball skills but because of the way that he utilized his athletic ability and basketball skills to help his team win. The main problem with Team USA now--and with the modern NBA game in general--is that players focus more on individual offensive skills than on the team game.
Labels: Anthony Edwards, Canada, Dillon Brooks, Kobe Bryant, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Team USA
posted by David Friedman @ 1:38 PM
Lakers Dominate the Paint, Cruise to 111-101 Victory Over Grizzlies
The L.A. Lakers bounced back from a listless game two loss against the shorthanded Memphis Grizzlies by playing with "discipline and focus"--as Jalen Rose aptly put it--that they have rarely demonstrated in recent seasons, tying an NBA playoff record by building a 26 point lead by the end of the first quarter before coasting to a 111-101 win. Anthony Davis led the Lakers in scoring and rebounding (31 points, 17 rebounds), while LeBron James added 25 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Ja Morant returned to action in style for Memphis after missing game two with a hand injury, exploding for 45 points, 13 assists, and nine rebounds.
The Lakers outscored the Grizzlies 58-42 in the paint, including 22-4 in that 35-9 first quarter explosion. People who don't understand basketball--or are pushing a narrative at variance with reality--insist that the Lakers need a lot of outside shooting in order to contend for a championship. Note that the Lakers shot 2-7 (.286) from three point range during their dominant first quarter, and just 7-28 (.250) from beyond the arc in the game. James attempted four shots from beyond the arc in 36 minutes. The last time that James attempted four or fewer three pointers in a playoff game is game one of the 2020 NBA Finals. Since that time, James' Lakers have posted a 7-7 playoff record as James far too often settled for long range shots instead of attacking the paint.
The 2020 Lakers won the NBA title while ranking 23rd in the league in three pointers attempted and 21st in the league in three point field goal percentage.
There is no other way to put this: the notion that the Lakers' success is dependent on three point shooting is idiotic.
The two significant stories from this game are (1) the Lakers won because they dominated the paint for the first 12 minutes, and (2) in the final 36 minutes the Grizzlies outscored the Lakers in the paint 38-36. The NBA is often a first quarter league, not a fourth quarter league, and this game was a perfect example: the Grizzlies outplayed the Lakers for 36 minutes, but the Lakers' huge first quarter advantage was too much to overcome.
In short, the Lakers can be very good when their two members of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team attack the paint--but those two players have repeatedly demonstrated that they are only willing and able to attack the paint selectively. That is why the Lakers have been mediocre or worse since winning the 2020 "Bubble" title.
Of course, the two significant stories are unlikely to receive much mainstream media coverage. The mainstream media coverage will focus on Memphis forward Dillon Brooks. After game two, Brooks boasted--in reference to the trash talk he directed at LeBron James--"I poke bears." I checked Brooks' resume, and this is what I found: no All-NBA selections, no All-Star selections, no All-Defensive Team selections, no 20 ppg seasons, career .416 field goal percentage, never advanced past the second round of the playoffs.
Brooks does not poke bears; he has spent his brief career being stomped by bears. It is legitimate to debate where James ranks in pro basketball's Pantheon of the greatest players of all-time, but there is no question that Brooks is a basketball nobody compared to James.
Brooks scored seven points on 3-13 field goal shooting in this game before earning an ejection for poking James below the belt. Brooks joined the growing list of players who have delivered cheap shots to opponents during the 2023 playoffs: Draymond Green was ejected and then suspended for a game after stomping on Domantas Sabonis, Joel Embiid received a flagrant foul but was spared ejection after kicking Nic Claxton below the belt, and then Embiid's teammate James Harden received an ejection but no suspension after hitting Royce O'Neale in the groin. Harden displayed his usual level of self-awareness when he said with a straight face that he did not think that he had committed an infraction at all, let alone one worthy of ejection; apparently, Harden is so used to illegally pushing off to get open that he just takes for granted that he has the right hit opponents anywhere at any time.
Brooks should be suspended one game for his cheap shot on James. Considering the way that sports leagues merge analytics with various camera angles, I have a proposal for dealing with the cheap shot artists: figure out the speed and power of the blows that they delivered to their opponents, and then stipulate that a properly calibrated robot will deliver an identical blow to them in the same body part before they are permitted to return to action.
I have played basketball my whole life, and I have never struck another player in the groin, intentionally or accidentally. I have accidentally hit players on the arms, chest, and even top of the head while trying to block shots; those are normal basketball plays that can happen, because those are the body parts that are usually in closest proximity to a basketball that is being shot, passed, rebounded, or caught. I do not have a fraction of the athletic ability of any NBA player, but somehow I manage to control my limbs better than they do, which is interesting (I also do not fall down with the frequency that Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid do, but that is another story).
Switching from groin shots to missed shots, let's check in on the "triumphant trio": media members heap praise on the three players who the Lakers acquired for the much-maligned Westbrook, so let's look how
those players did versus Memphis in game three.
D'Angelo
Russell had 17 points on 5-14 field goal shooting, plus seven assists. He is averaging 13.7 ppg on .333 field goal
shooting in the first three games of this series. Russell's 42 points in three games barely exceeds the 37 points (on 17-29 field goal shooting) that Westbrook scored for his shorthanded L.A. Clippers in game four versus the Phoenix Suns.
Jarred
Vanderbilt had zero points on 0-1 field goal shooting. He is averaging 4.0 ppg on .500 field goal shooting in the first three games of this
series.
Malik Beasley had zero points on 0-2 field
goal shooting. He is averaging 2.3 ppg on .286 field goal shooting in
the first two games of this series.
I am not sure what is worse: the collective productivity and efficiency of these three players, or the fact that there are commentators who are paid a lot of money to insist that these three role players can make a better contribution to a winning program than Westbrook.
LeBron James' p.r. team in the mainstream media will work overtime declaring that he made a "statement" in this game. James explicitly told Dave "Vampire" McMenamin that with his resume he does not have to make statements, which I predict will be spun as James demonstrating his great modesty and ability to rise above the fray. The reality is that James and the Lakers rightly took umbrage at Brooks' absurd remarks, and the Lakers were so inspired that they played hard for 12 minutes out of 48, which is about par for the course for these Lakers. During the telecast, ESPN noted the high number of uncontested shots that the Grizzlies missed during the first quarter; it has become a cliche for players to insist "It was not great defense; we just missed shots" but to a large extent that was true in the first quarter; the Grizzlies missed a lot of open shots, and the Lakers played with great purpose on offense in the first quarter, taking advantage of all of Memphis' misses.
After all is said and done--and a lot is sure to be said about the Lakers' magnificent 12 minutes and how those minutes validate James' greatness--sober-minded people will remember that the next game starts with a 0-0 score, and the Grizzlies can reclaim homecourt advantage with a win.
Labels: Anthony Davis, Dillon Brooks, Ja Morant, L.A. Lakers, LeBron James, Memphis Grizzlies
posted by David Friedman @ 2:38 AM
Warriors Outrebound, Outshoot, and Outlast Grizzlies to Advance to the Western Conference Finals
Small ball and three point shooting may grab the headlines, but when push comes to shove--literally--size matters in the NBA. After being pushed around, outrebounded, and embarrassed by the Memphis Grizzlies in game five the Golden State Warriors responded by going big and outrebounding the Grizzlies 70-44 en route to a 110-96 victory. Acting head coach Mike Brown--who is taking Steve Kerr's place while Kerr is in COVID-19 health and safety protocols--inserted Kevon Looney in the starting lineup. Looney grabbed a game-high 22 rebounds--including 11 in the first quarter, matching Memphis' total--to nullify Memphis' advantage in size/physicality. Draymond Green had 15 rebounds, and Andrew Wiggins added 11 rebounds. Steven Adams led Memphis with 10 rebounds and he had the best plus/minus number among the team's starters (-6) but he was outnumbered in the paint.
The Warriors were sloppy with the ball (17 turnovers) and they shot just .394 from the field, but their huge rebounding advantage coupled with the Grizzlies' poor shooting (.354) proved to be a winning formula. Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 30 points on 11-22 field goal shooting, but Stephen Curry shot just 10-27 from the field to accumulate 29 points. Jordan Poole, the newest "Splash Brother," drizzled his way to 12 points on 4-15 field goal shooting. Dillon Brooks posted Curry-like numbers (30 points, 11-28 field goal shooting), while Desmond Bane nearly matched Thompson's output (25 points, 9-16 field goal shooting), but the Warriors' extra possessions proved to be too much to overcome.
The big "What if?" for this series is the knee injury that Ja Morant suffered in game three. Morant scored 47 points in Memphis' game two win and he averaged 38.3 ppg during the series. The Grizzlies ranked second in the NBA in scoring this season (115.6 ppg), but in the final three games of this series without Morant the Grizzlies failed to break the 100 point barrier twice. Memphis' game five blowout win was an aberration--not from an effort standpoint, but from a shooting and scoring standpoint--and the harsh reality is that without Morant the Grizzlies just could not generate enough offense to win game six even after holding the Warriors to sub-.400 field goal shooting.
Despite being shorthanded and despite losing the battle on the boards, the Grizzlies kept the game close until the fourth quarter, when Curry finally got hot (4-7 field goal shooting, 11 points) and the Warriors outscored the Grizzlies 32-19.
The Warriors are back in the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2019, when they lost to the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Finals after Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson both suffered serious injuries. They will get a few days off before facing the game seven winner of the Phoenix-Dallas series.
Labels: Desmond Bane, Dillon Brooks, Golden State Warriors, Kevon Looney, Klay Thompson, Memphis Grizzlies, Stephen Curry
posted by David Friedman @ 1:37 AM
