On Sunday, the Houston Rockets agreed to terms on a deal with the Phoenix Suns to acquire 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant. After the Rockets were bounced in the first round by the Golden State Warriors, they felt it was time to bring in a veteran to help the young Rockets core. But does this acquisition move the needle for this Houston Rockets team?

We recently wrote on Fans First Sports Network about the Miami Heat and their pursuit of Kevin Durant. They opted not to give some of their younger core for Durant. Instead, Houston found it beneficial to trade away Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the 10th overall pick in Wednesday’s NBA Draft, and five second-round picks to acquire Kevin Durant.

So why did the Rockets make the move?

The Houston Rockets had a tremendous regular season. They came into the playoffs as a 2-seed and did it on the backs of young players like Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson, a veteran point guard in Fred VanVleet, and the team’s leading scorer, Jalen Green. This wasn’t enough and they lost to the Golden State Warriors in 7 games, who had just acquired Jimmy Butler at the deadline and possessed championship pedigree with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.

Oftentimes, teams will be talented but get trumped in the postseason by experience. It’s a fine balance teams have to take into account when constructing their squad to pursue a championship. For Houston, they saw older veterans take advantage of their young stars.

Their solution was trading their leading scorer, Jalen Green, in this package to acquire Kevin Durant.

This deal told me the Rockets were willing to sacrifice Jalen Green’s potential at 22 years old with hopes that Kevin Durant would move the needle in the next couple of years to bring Houston to the championship.

It’s rare for a team to move off their best player for an aging veteran, no matter how long the resume is. This is likely due to Jalen Green’s alarming dip in the 7-game series against the Golden State Warriors. In the postseason, all of his numbers dropped. He averaged only 13.3 PPG, compared to the regular season when he averaged 21 PPG. His shooting numbers also dipped to 37.2% from the floor and 29.5% from three-point range. In that moment, the former #2 overall pick didn’t step up in ways he should have.

Aside from Jalen Green’s productivity offensively in the regular season, he was available. Jalen Green played in all 82 games the past two seasons, averaging more than 30 minutes per game. If nothing else, he was consistently available on a nightly basis for the Houston Rockets. Green looked to be a piece they could build around, especially since the team drafted him high in the 2021 NBA Draft. Green was taken directly before Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes, who have won Defensive Player of the Year (Mobley) and Rookie of the Year (Barnes), respectively. Jalen Green is the only player in the Top 4 picks of that draft who doesn’t have a single All-Star appearance.

Jalen Green is still 22 years old. Phoenix will build with him, or use Green as trade bait to land someone who fits Devin Booker and Bradley Beal well.

The Rockets did this move with more short-term goals in mind, and they demand that Kevin Durant move the needle.

Kevin Durant will be 37 years old when the new league year begins. His availability has been spotty. He is still incredibly talented and might have a couple of years left of production, but he can’t be relied on every night like Jalen Green was.

The Rockets are banking on Kevin Durant to galvanize this young core as a veteran superstar and a #1 scoring option, but Kevin Durant hasn’t been that guy anywhere he has been. Durant had Westbrook and Harden to rely on in Oklahoma City before going to Golden State with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Durant would then bring his buddies Kyrie Irving and James Harden to Brooklyn, where they didn’t play many games alongside one another. Then, in his most recent experiment in Phoenix, Durant had Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. In Houston, Durant has nobody because the team traded their #1 scoring option to land a much older player in the twilight of his career.

If Green’s postseason performance is what pushed Houston to make the deal for Kevin Durant, the Durantula doesn’t bring much more to the table. Durant has lost his previous six postseason games, with his last win coming in 2023 against the Denver Nuggets. His last series win came the round before against the Los Angeles Clippers, a team built on two other aging stars in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

Kevin Durant hasn’t had any recent success, and he hasn’t achieved any in his career as the number one option. For Durant to elevate the play of this young Houston team is uncharacteristic of what Kevin Durant has been.

Kevin Durant joins teams, blows up the core, and the team is left with nothing else. The Phoenix Suns were in the NBA Finals before Kevin Durant joined and the team missed the postseason this year with three big contracts. For the Rockets, they are one “big name” splash move away this offseason from being the Phoenix Suns.

Does Kevin Durant move the needle? Yes, but in the opposite direction from what the Rockets are intending. This might be compared to the Paul George trade (have your pick) in the future.

Houston, you have a problem and you just welcomed him with open arms.