Rockets trade interest in Kevin Durant continues to be exaggerated

For all of the Rockets’ obvious shortcomings in generating easy scoring opportunities against Golden State’s defense laden with thirtysomethings, more indications than not suggest that Houston’s trade interest in Kevin Durant continues to be overstated.Source: marcstein.substack.com

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Gerald Bourguet @GeraldBourguet
Kevin Durant to the Rockets? Brian Gregory to the podium? Bradley Beal to…anywhere? We’re going live on @PHNX_Suns to answer all your Suns questions with another Mailbag Monday episode! Get in here:
bit.ly/4m1wd8r – 5:57 PM

Todd Whitehead @CrumpledJumper
Buddy is quietly moving up the all-time 3PM leaderboard and could break into the Top 10 next season.
he’s at 16th with 2127 career 3s
15. Paul Pierce (needs 17 to pass)
14. KD (65 to pass)
13. Kyle Lowry (79)
12. Jamal Crawford (95)
11. Jason Terry (156)
10. Vince Carter (164) – 3:22 PM

Duane Rankin @DuaneRankin
Are Houston Rockets a Kevin Durant away from title contender? Takeaways from NBA 1st round (w/video) #NBAPlayoffs2025 #Suns #Rockets azcentral.com/story/sports/n… via @azcentral – 12:13 PM

Stephen Noh @StephNoh
Rockets offseason guide, including pathways for them to land KD/Giannis:
sportingnews.com/us/nba/houston… – 7:00 AM

Erik Slater @erikslater_
This marks another season where neither Kevin Durant nor James Harden will make it past the second round.
Both got to their preferred destinations when they requested trades from Brooklyn. They haven’t had success.
The Nets’ big three’s best chance to win was staying put. – 8:42 AM

More on this storyline

Kendrick Perkins: Kevin Durant is going to end up in the Houston Rocket uniform. They have the pieces. If I’m the Rockets, I’m going all in. Jabari Smith, Jalen Green, Cam Whitmore, and some picks for Kevin Durant. And don’t come give me Kevin Durant don’t have it no more. The one thing Kevin Durant will do when he gets to Houston is respect Ime Udoka because we know they have a great relationship. You pair him alongside the Thompson twin with Sengun, Fred VanVleet, the Rockets looking to make some noise. That was the one thing that they were missing in this series was a closer and Kevin Durant provides that. -via YouTube / May 5, 2025

The likes of Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Zion Williamson, and Devin Booker will be linked in the rumor mill in the coming weeks, all with different pros and cons depending on Houston’s direction. Team sources say the Rockets will monitor the market closely and will hold internal discussions about potential fits and offers. -via New York Times / May 5, 2025

When the United States lost its first two exhibition games against Nigeria and Australia, the panic alarms started blaring. Everyone was questioning whether the team was going to collapse. Was this going to be Popovich’s greatest embarrassment as a coach? But, of course, he righted the ship. “He doubled down on how hard he wanted to coach them,” Pierce said. “It started with KD, Draymond [Green], all the way down, Dame [Damian Lillard]. He had appropriate fear all along because he knew we weren’t invincible.” The superstars allowed Popovich to scream at them. They wanted Pop to be Pop. They welcomed it. -via FoxSports.com / May 2, 2025

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