Rockets Big Winners in Kevin Durant Trade to Suns

The Brooklyn Nets traded Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns. So why are the Houston Rockets a winner in the deal?

Jeremy Brener | Feb 9, 2023

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Houston Rockets

The NBA world is shaking after the Phoenix Suns acquired Kevin Durant in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets.

According to The Athletic, the Suns are sending Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four unprotected first-round picks and additional draft capital for Durant.

With the trade, the Brooklyn Nets trio of Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving is officially done.

While the Nets acquired Durant and Irving in free agency, Brooklyn infamously traded seven draft assets to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Harden.

Critics of the trade were harsh on the fact that the Rockets acquired all these draft assets for a team in contention for a championship.

However, after two years since the trade, all three Nets superstars are out of town ... Harden in Philadelphia, Irving in Dallas and Durant in Phoenix.

This means that the Nets are likely heading towards a rebuild, and with the Rockets carrying their draft picks, Houston fans should celebrate as one of the big winners in the trade.

Obviously the Suns are also a big winner by acquiring Durant, one of the top players in the game, with four years on his contract. Now, Durant will team up with Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton and former Rockets point guard Chris Paul to try and win the Suns their first NBA championship.

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Published Feb 9, 2023

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.