AUSTIN — The Houston Rockets have officially acquired Kevin Durant in a historic seven-team NBA trade.
Per reports from ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Rockets have completed the trade for the former Texas Longhorns star from the Phoenix Suns in a deal that also includes the Brooklyn Nets, Golden State Warriors, Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves.
It had originally been reported on June 22 that Durant would be headed to Houston after just two full seasons in Phoenix. The one-time NBA MVP, two-time champion and 15-time All-Star averaged 26.6 points and 5.7 rebounds in 62 games this past season.
According to Charania’s report, here is what each team is getting in the trade:
Phoenix gets: Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, Khaman Maluach, Rasheer Fleming, Koby Brea, Daeqwon Plowden, second-round pick
Houston gets: Kevin Durant, Clint Capela
Brooklyn gets: two second-round picks
Golden State gets: Alex Toohey, Jahmai Mashack
Atlanta gets: secon-round pick swap, David Roddy, cash
Lakers get: Adou Thiero
Minnesota gets: Rocco Zikarsky, two second-round picks, cash
Durant will now only be a few hours away from Austin where he played just one season at Texas before being the No. 2 overall pick by the Seattle Supersonics in the 2007 NBA Draft.
Though Durant is not a native Texan, having grown up in Maryland in the Washington D.C. area, he’s embraced Austin as his second home. When the Suns played the San Antonio Spurs at the Moody Center in February this past season, Durant sat down for a special media availability with local reporters where he talked at length about Longhorns basketball.
Durant had some high praise for Texas star freshman Tre Johnson, who is now a rookie for Durant’s hometown Washington Wizards. The two will now get a chance to play against one another next season.
“He’s conducting himself like a pro already,” Durant said of Johnson. “You could tell when I was at practice yesterday, just his work habits already at that level of focus that it needs to be at in order for you to be a great player for a long time. So just keep doing what he’s doing, and he’s gonna learn more about the game with more experience.”
Durant also shared his thoughts on Austin eventually becoming a new home for a WNBA team, pointing to the recent success of Texas women’s basketball under head coach Vic Schaefer. Throughout his career, Durant has continuously used his spotlight to be an advocate for growing women’s basketball.
“It’s a basketball city,” Durant said of Austin. “We’ve always had major, major support here for women’s basketball, we have one of the greatest coaches and greatest players to come through here. Our women’s coach now is one of the greatest, we got a great young talent in Madi [Booker] out here. All down the line I just think this city is primed for basketball, especially women’s basketball at the highest level.”
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