The Houston Rockets’ title odds skyrocketed following their blockbuster move to acquire 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant on Sunday.
According to ESPN’s senior NBA insider Shams Charania, who broke the news, the Rockets’ odds to win next season’s NBA title jumped from 18-1 to +850 at ESPN BET.
Only the Oklahoma City Thunder (+220) have better championship odds than the Rockets.
The Rockets paid a relatively low price than what the Phoenix Suns gave up in 2023 for Durant.
Houston sent former No. 2 pick Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 pick in the 2025 draft and five second-round picks to land the future Hall of Famer.
The trade cannot be finalized until July 6, “because of the poison pill restriction in the Jalen Green rookie extension,” according to ESPN’s front office insider Bobby Marks.
It was an underwhelming haul for the Suns, who gave up four first-round picks and a pick swap on top of Cam Johnson and Mikal Bridges for Durant at the trade deadline in 2023. Two of those picks remain with the Rockets.
Kevin Durant Boosts Rockets Revamped Starting Lineup
Acquiring Durant without giving up much of their young core is a major coup for the Rockets, who now have a formidable starting lineup.
Durant joins Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen Sengun in the new-look Rockets starting group.
Tari Eason and Steven Adams lead their reserves, which also has Cam Whitmore, last year’s No. 3 pick Reed Sheppard and veteran Aaron Holiday should the Rockets pick up his $4.9 million team option.
Initially, the Suns demanded more from the Rockets.
But the Rockets were unwilling to add more of their young talents and just offered a haul of second-round picks to get the deal done.
“Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason, and Reed Sheppard are among the young talents in Houston that Phoenix has expressed interest in. The Rockets have not been willing to part with any of the three to this point,” Clutchpoints’ Brett Seigel reported on Friday, June 20.
Houston remained firm and got Durant for a low price range that only cost essentially the polarizing Green and a rookie (No. 10) who may just rot on the Rockets bench.
The Rockets Finally Have a Go-To Guy
In Durant, the Rockets now have a go-to guy they can rely on especially in the postseason after their sputtering offense prevented them from coming out of the first round of the playoffs. They lost to Durant’s former team, the Golden State Warriors — who tried to reunite with him at the trade deadline — in seven games.
Swapping him for Green, an outstanding scorer in the regular season, flopped in his first playoff appearance, is a no-brainer at this point.
Green averaged just 13.3 points on 37.2% overall shooting and 29.5% from the 3-point line in the Rockets’ firs-round loss to the Golden State Warriors. He later admitted the “lights were too bright” at the start of the playoffs.
The 23-year-old former No. 2 pick posted 21.0 points on 42.3% overall shooting and 35.4% from the 3-point line in the regular season where the Rockets clinched the No. 2 seed in the stacked Western Conference. But could not replicate that under the bright lights of the playoffs.
Green still has a long runway to blossom into a bona fide star. However, this Durant trade also represented the Rockets’ strong belief in Amen Thompson, who will now fill a larger role in Houston’s backcourt without Green.
The soon-to-be 37-year-old Durant is a certified bucket-getter despite his advanced age.
This past season, he still averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 62 games.
Charania noted that Durant led the league in points per direct isolation among players to run 200 isolations this season, according to ESPN Research, where the Rockets struggled the most (ranked 27th in in points per direct isolation) this past season.
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