Kevin Durant made history in July when he was the crown jewel of an NBA-record, seven-team deal that delivered him from the Phoenix Suns to the Houston Rockets.
What he made Sunday was another long-term home for himself, perhaps his last in the league as a player.
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The two-time NBA MVP agreed to a two-year, $90 million extension with the Rockets, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, turning a potential one-year stay into an opportunity to ride off into the sunset. The deal also contains a player option for the 2027-28 NBA season, so Durant could stick around even longer than expected depending on how things play out.
Durant turns 37 in September. He has played 17 seasons in the league, made 15 All-Star teams and earned NBA Finals MVP on both of the squads he won championships with.
Durant was on an expiring contract worth $54.7 million for the 2025-26 season. He was eligible to sign a two-year deal worth $122 million when he was traded. Had he waited until six months after that deal, he could have made an extra two million. That ultimately didn’t matter, as Durant signed for $90 million.
At this point, though, that kind of contract minutiae is secondary to Durant. He hopes to win a championship with the Rockets, who broke through under head coach Ime Udoka last season. Houston won 50-plus games for the first time in six seasons and secured the No. 2 seed in a strong Western Conference. Although the Rockets bowed out to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs, the present and future are bright in Houston.
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Udoka was signed to a long-term extension that makes him one of the highest-paid coaches in the NBA, as reported by Charania on June 19.
The Rockets got older, essentially swapping a 23-year-old Jalen Green for Durant, but Father Time hasn’t stripped KD of his consistency. The versatile, 6-foot-11 forward has averaged at least 25 points, 50% shooting and a 40% 3-point clip in each of the past three seasons — that’s the longest such streak in NBA history, per ESPN Research, and Durant has strung it together from ages 34-36.
While Houston also gave up a tenacious but sometimes reckless 3-and-D in Dillon Brooks, it signed another productive, two-way, veteran wing player in Dorian Finney-Smith.
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Plus, the Rockets beefed up the center position behind now-one-time All-Star Alperen Şengün with the sign-and-trade addition of Clint Capela. It’s a Houston reunion for Capela, who spent the first six years of his NBA career with the Rockets.
Houston’s newcomers will join not only Şengün but also point guard Fred VanVleet, shooting guard Amen Thompson — a member of this year’s NBA All-Defensive First Team — and power forward Jabari Smith Jr., among others.
As for Durant, he’s getting ready to play for his fifth franchise. Before joining the Rockets, he suited up for the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder (2007-16), Warriors (2016-19), Brooklyn Nets (2019-23) and Suns (2023-25).
Last season, Durant averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game in 62 outings. While the Suns had the highest payroll in league history, they finished just 36-46 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019-20.
Durant could put Phoenix disappointments in the rear view mirror with a memorable final chapter in Houston. The Rockets helped set him up for that opportunity with Sunday’s extension.
