Rockets Are Reportedly Not Done With Kevin Durant Trade as Unusual Giannis Antetokounmpo Proposal Emerges

The Houston Rockets front office went back to the drawing board, as their young, inexperienced core fell short in their first competitive series against the Golden State Warriors.

What they came up with after has been earth-shattering to say the least. Yes, it finally happened! The Rockets landed Kevin Durant after months of speculation about the veteran forward. This move has been a long time coming for Houston, who’ve missed that X-factor or a bona fide superstar. However, it seems that they are not done, just yet.

Why do we think that? Well, to put it simply, Houston has not given up a fortune to land Durant from Phoenix. No disrespect to Jalen Green or Dillon Brooks, but giving up these two players and the 10th pick in this season’s draft isn’t much.

On the contrary, the Rockets’ front office would be happy being able to keep Tari Eason and Reed Sheppard and not losing much depth. Meanwhile, they’ve also managed to keep a fair share of other assets while maintaining flexibility. This enables them to make a huge splash if needed anytime in the future.

Not just us, analyst Bill Simmons also thinks similarly. “With Houston, the fact that what’s really interesting to me about this is they kept their flexibility for one more trade if they want to do it,” Simmons said on his podcast.

“And I don’t know whether that trade happens in the summer or whether it happens in the December, January, February range. But like, for instance, as we covered many times, Giannis is not getting traded this summer. But if it’s January and they’re 15, the Bucks are 15 and 25. And he’s like, you know what? This sucks. They still have their chance. If the Celtics change their mind, they’re like, God damn, we didn’t realize we’d be this bad. And we’re going to pay how much money in luxury tax? Like, yeah, maybe we will trade Jaylen around. They have the flexibility still on some of the assets to make a second move, which I thought was going to be their move.” He added.

Simmons pointed out that retaining almost their entire depth has now opened new pathways for the Houston Rockets. He stated that this puts them in the driver’s position for landing Giannis Antetokounmpo if he decides to leave Milwaukee midway through the season. Meanwhile, they could also eye Jaylen Brown at the shooting guard position, something they’ll need given Jalen Green is now out. To be honest, Bill Simmons’ words make a lot of sense, as Houston is now looking to maximize the potential of their young core.

One thing that the Rockets lacked this season was their ability to score against tougher opponents. Now, with Kevin Durant on the team, that problem seems all but solved.

They could further boost their progress in the West by adding Giannis to the mix. The All-NBA forward would slide right in on any team in the league right, and the Rockets are no exception. Although there are a lot of rumors that the Greek superstar might prefer to stay at Milwaukee, Simmons thinks even if he changes his mind during the season, Houston should shoot their shot.

While it remains to be seen whether or not Giannis Antetokounmpo leaves the Bucks, he sure had a couple of words for KD’s arrival in Houston.

Giannis Antetokounmpo sends a cryptic message to fans after KD trade

If any other player has been involved even more in trade rumors than, it’s none other than Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Bucks forward has been the talk of the town as he has left the entire NBA world perplexed with a will-he, won’t-he situation at Milwaukee. Personally, the Greek Freak is coming off yet another stunning campaign, averaging 30.4 points along with 11.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists. However, similar things cannot be said about his franchise.

The Bucks have been miserable this season, and now with Damian Lillard out, things don’t look good for the next campaign as well.

Still, Giannis has dropped a few hints that indicate he’ll stay loyal to Milwaukee and its people. The superstar has been pretty active on social media. So, as soon as the news about Durant heading to Houston dropped, of course, he had a couple of words to say about the trade.

“Oh oh,” Giannis wrote on X, expressing his emotions in just two words. Although this tweet was for KD, fans urged him to leave the Bucks.

With Durant’s move to Houston executed, all eyes are on Antetokounmpo this summer. Just a few weeks ago, it was reported that he’ll meet up with the higher-ups to discuss his future. However, there have been no updates regarding that.

Still, if he does decide to make a move away from Milwaukee during the summer or even midway through the season, a potential team-up with KD might be on the cards, making them arguably the most formidable duo in the entire league.