The day of a championship series game seven, it’s usually a safe bet that no bigger news will go down in a given league, but this year the NBA tested that theory with the news that superstar Kevin Durant was on the move from Phoenix to Houston. The trade saw the Rockets invest a significant amount of draft and player capital into the 37-year-old elite scorer as the team looks to find the piece they need to get over the top in a competitive Western Conference while the Suns prepare to rebuild.
So, what do the virtual GMs at the helms in NBA 2K25 think about the trade?
What Went Down In The Kevin Durant Trade?
News broke on Sunday that the Rockets and Suns had come to an agreement to move Durant, with the Suns receiving a bevy of picks as well as two starters in exchange. On the player side of things, the Suns get a pair of wings to make up for shipping off one of the best in the history of the game as Jalen Green and infamous pest Dillon Brooks join the Arizona outfit. While neither is a player that matches up to Durant in his own right, even at 37 years old, they are two players that can slot into a rebuilding Suns starting lineup.
Supplementing the build-out with youth will be a push for draft talent, and in a league where it always helps to have more lottery tickets to play the Suns are now loaded with them. The Suns still have two outstanding first rounders sent out to the Nets in acquiring Durant, who won just one playoff series in three years in Phoenix, so stocking up was a must for any rebuild. They now walk away with a first and second round pick this year, a pair of second round picks in 2026, one in 2030 and a fifth in 2032.
What The Trade Means For The Phoenix Suns
With a season spent outside the play-in round, let alone the playoffs proper, and an angry star in Durant who was not interested in re-signing with the organization at the end of his contract next summer, it’s clear that the Suns have decided it’s time for a rebuild. With an NBA finals that saw two young sides battling it out for the title, they clearly decided that a title push was not in the cards this upcoming season and that holding onto Durant only to lose him for nothing in the summer was a fool’s gambit.
That said, shipping a 36-year-old with one year left on his contract isn’t the strongest negotiating position to work from, even when it’s one of the greatest players of all time. While the Suns did pick up a bunch of picks, with only one first-rounder and two of the second round picks not coming until next decade, whether they have a big impact on the Suns’ short- to medium-term prospects remains to be seen.
Where this trade’s success may pivot for the Suns is how the two current players, Green and Brooks, adapt to their new team. Green struggled in the playoffs this year against a seasoned Golden State side, while Brooks famously came out on the wrong side of a beef with LeBron James a few years back, but both are solid NBA pros. If they can slot in well alongside Devin Booker, and the Suns hit with their picks in the next few years, the trade may go down as a steal. If not, it could turn into a major bust.
What The Trade Means For The Houston Rockets
For the Rockets, things are a bit simpler. They’re in win-now mode. The West was wildly competitive last season, with just four games separating #2 from #8 when all was said and done, but it was the Rockets who got the best of that crowded field, posting a 52-30 record to claim the #2 seed. Unfortunately for them, that earned them a match with #7 Golden State, a better team than their placement after acquiring Jimmy Butler at the deadline, and the Rockets dropped a seven game series in the opening round. They’ll now turn to Durant to be the player who elevates them from happy to be there to serious title threats.
Will The Virtual Rockets Accept This Trade?
Taking things to 2K I first put myself in the role of Suns GM to see how Houston would respond if given this offer. Off the top it’s important to note that restrictions on how many items can be included in a trade mean the deals offered in both versions will actually be better for the Suns, who cannot throw in the final two second rounders.
While the offer from the virtual Suns was tempting, ultimately the Rockets didn’t bite, choosing instead to hold onto their current players. Even attempts to sweeten the pot by throwing some picks back in their direction wasn’t enough to convince Houston to pull the trigger.
Will The Virtual Suns Accept This Trade?
With Houston not being down it stands to reason that the Suns would likely jump at the opportunity with the shoe on the other foot, right? Not so fast. Turns out the 2K Suns are even less fond of this deal than their Houston counterparts, rejecting the deal outright with a note that a player like Durant would not be available for such a modest return, full stop.
So, as fas the 2K engine is determined, this trade doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for either party. If the platonic ideal for a trade is a win-win, wherein each team raises their overall prospects by sending players better suited to their trade partner in exchange for players better suited to their own situation, 2K doesn’t think this trade helps anybody. The good news for Suns and Rockets fans is that this will ultimately be determined on the real court, not the virtual one.
What do you think of the trade? Did one team come out on top, did both get better or was this really a lose-lose like the game thinks?
