Not all that suprising when you consider KD will be 37 when the season starts.
With the Houston Rockets trading for Kevin Durant, one of the big questions still remaining is about the future. KD has one year remaining on his deal at $55 million. The Rockets will most certainly be hoping for an extension after giving up Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the first-round pick that became Khaman Maluach, plus five future second round picks. They didn’t do that for a one-year rental. Well, a recent report has both sides looking for an extension, with KD reportedly wanting to retire in Houston.
According to Shams Charania on ESPN’s First Take, Houston was Durant’s top choice, and he intends to stay with the Rockets until he’s ready to hang them up. Shams said:
“The goal right now for Kevin Durant and the Rockets is for him to retire in Houston. They’re going to eventually this offseason discuss a contract extension and figure out where that lands.
“Kevin Durant, from what I understand, he was excited to go to Houston to specifically play with Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith, Reed Sheppard. They’ve got so many young players—Tari Eason as well—and Ime Udoka is a coach that he’s very familiar with from Team USA as well as with the Nets. There’s a lot of mutual respect there, a deep level of respect. So there’s excitement there.”
A contract extension is either looking like two years, $112 million if it happens quickly, or two years, $124 million if both sides are willing to wait six months. KD becomes officially eligible for an extension on July 6.
I’ve made my feelings known on the Rockets trading for Kevin Durant. I was not in favor. Sure, KD looks like a great fit on paper, but KD looks like a fit on paper for all 30 NBA teams. As we’ve seen in Brooklyn and in Phoenix, that doesn’t mean the end results match up with plans and desires. The forward is well-known to be moody and mercurial. Thankfully, Houston has two steady hands in veterans Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams for the young core to rely on, along with a hard-nosed coach in Ime Udoka, whom Durant respects, which should help mitigate that some.
Also thankfully, Raphael Stone didn’t overpay, and the Rockets still have their future ahead of them with numerous first-round assets, plus several potential budding stars. If this turns out to be a mistake, or KD gets injured or gets old quickly, the Rockets should be able to pivot relatively easily. Nice job by Stone hedging his bets. You can tell just by that fact alone, Stone isn’t without his reservations as well. The potential KD drawbacks are well known: age, injury history, always seems to have a bug up his ass about something. (This really made me laugh)
With any luck, we’ll have completely forgot about those reservations, with the Rockets hoisting a title sometime in the next three seasons, which is looking like about how long we can expect KD. If that happens (or even if the Rockets get close), I’ll more than happily take my crow. Just make sure it has a little hot sauce please.