The trade sending Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets somehow just got more complicated.
A lot more complicated.
According to The Athletic, the deal that sends Durant from the Phoenix Suns to the Rockets is expanding rapidly. The deal could involve what would be a league-record seven teams when it’s all said and done, including the Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves.
No deal is imminent, however, and details are still being worked out. It’s unclear when the trade would officially go down, if at all. If it does, though, it would break the previous record set last summer that dealt Klay Thompson to the Dallas Mavericks. A remarkable six teams were involved in that trade.
While it sounds like a complicated and wild deal — it includes nearly 25% of teams in the league, after all — it apparently includes nothing new. According to The Athletic, there haven’t been many additional developments in the deal at all. Most of the names involved, per the report, are part of trades that have already been agreed to and announced.
In exchange for Durant, the Suns received Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and multiple draft picks. Daeqwon Plowden is the only other player in the league from last season that is involved in this expanded trade, per the report. Everyone else is apparently from trades that were agreed on during the NBA Draft. And, according to NBA insider Jake Fischer, this was always going to be a six-team deal. The only new addition is the Hawks, who are apparently working to send Clint Capela to Houston in a sign-and-trade.
Trades can’t be finalized officially until July 6, when the free agency period officially begins. The negotiation period started on Monday.
So while the now seven-team trade will be a fun trivia question for NBA fans for years to come, assuming it is finalized this way on Sunday, it’s really business as usual for the NBA. Just a long, extremely complicated business deal.
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