How Kevin Durant trade affects both Suns and Rockets
USA TODAY Sports’ Lorenzo Reyes breaks down the impact of Kevin Durant trade for both the Suns and Rockets.
Sports Pulse
The NBA world was rocked by news that 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant is headed to the Houston Rockets in a blockbuster trade with the Phoenix Suns.
Durant, 36, is set to enter the final year of his contract in the 2025-26 NBA season. However, he remains one of the top players in the league, coming off a season in which he averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game.
Since being selected with the second overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft by the then-Seattle Supersonics, Durant – a four-time scoring champion and the 2014 MVP – has averaged at least 20 points per game in each of his 17 seasons in the league.
Kevin Durant has one year remaining on the four-year, $194.2 million contract extension he signed in August 2021 while he was still a member of the Brooklyn Nets. That came before he was traded to the Suns in February 2023.
Last season with Phoenix, Durant was paid a salary of $47,649,433, according to Basketball Reference.
He’s due $54.7 million in 2025-26 in the final year of his deal. He is eligible to sign a two-year, $122 million contract extension starting July 6.
If he waits until January, he can sign a two-year, $124 million extension. Those numbers are based on the NBA’s projected 2026-27 salary cap and the most Durant can make by taking up 35% of that cap number.
Of course, he could also opt to play out the final year of his contract and become a free agent after next season.
For his career, Durant has earned an estimated $399,155,146 in salary over his 17 seasons.
