Rockets acquire Kevin Durant from Suns for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, No. 10 overall pick, five 2nd-round picks
At first glance, this seems like a lopsided trade in favor of Phoenix. The Suns, after all, traded Kevin Durant for eight players. After diagnosing it, however, it feels like the Suns obtained a quarter, two dimes, and five pennies for a whole dollar.
Durant will turn 37 prior to the 2025-26 season, but he can still perform at a high level. He averaged 26.6 points per game last year despite looking unmotivated at times as a result on playing on such a bad team. The Rockets needed a dynamic talent like Durant to help get them over the top, which will be possible with the league being so wide open. And the compensation isn’t really that bad. Green has a massive salary. Brooks is poor in the locker room. The second-round picks don’t really matter. The only value is the No. 10 pick.
While I like this trade for the Rockets, it also makes sense for the Suns. Phoenix is in no position to win now, so trading Durant for a bunch of players can help the rebuilding process.
Grade for Rockets – A-
Grade for Suns – B
Comment on the other free agent signings below.
Follow me @walterfootball for more hiring/signing grades and updates. Also, you can Support Us on Patreon here!
Magic acquire Desmond Bane from Grizzlies for Cole Anthony, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, four unprotected first-round picks
The Magic made some noise in the regular-season this year, but ultimately were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs again, losing their initial series to the Celtics in five. Their offense outside of Paolo Banchero was dead, so they needed to acquire some explosive threats. They did so with Desmond Bane, so their team will benefit in the short term.
However, the Magic seem to have surrendered a lot for Bane. Four unprotected first-round picks seems insane on the surface. The unprotected aspect of it may not come into play though, given that the Magic now have plenty of talent with Bane, Banchero, and Franz Wagner. I don’t think this trade is as bad as some are making it out to be, though I would grade the Grizzlies higher because they acquired so many assets.
Grade for Magic – B
Grade for Grizzlies – A
Comment on the other free agent signings below.
Follow me @walterfootball for more hiring/signing grades and updates. Also, you can Support Us on Patreon here!
Spurs acquire De’Aaron Fox, Jordan McLaughlin
Kings acquire Zach LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, three first-round picks (2025 Hornets, 2027 Spurs, 2031 Timberwolves), three second-round picks
Bulls acquire Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, own 2025 first-round pick
What a wild time in the NBA. Just 24 hours after the Mavericks and Lakers exchanged Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis, there was another trade involving De’Aaron Fox and Zach LaVine. Three teams took part in the deal.
The Spurs were the big winners of the trade. They obtained Fox for pretty much just a mid-first-round pick, which is worth it. Fox is a very talented 27-year-old guard who will be a great second option to pair with Victor Wembanyama. San Antonio needed a No. 2 to take the next step, and now they have that player in Fox.
The Kings didn’t do as well as the Spurs, but they were able to get a talented, albeit injury-prone player in LaVine for Fox. They also picked up three first-round picks, though Charlotte’s selection is protected. Still, there’s not that huge of a gap between Fox and LaVine – the two are just a couple of years apart, unlike Doncic and Davis – so I like this move for Sacramento.
The big loser in this trade is Chicago. I don’t understand what the Bulls are doing. Sure, they get their own pick back, which will be in the 11-15 range, but they lost LaVine for pretty much nothing otherwise. Perhaps they believe they need to rebuild, but they should have been able to get something more for LaVine than a mid-first-round pick and three bench scrubs.
Grade for Spurs – A+
Grade for Kings – A-
Grade for Bulls – D
Comment on the other free agent signings below.
Follow me @walterfootball for more hiring/signing grades and updates. Also, you can Support Us on Patreon here!
Lakers acquire Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris from Mavericks for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, 2029 1st-round pick
This trade broke when we were broadcasting the latest episode of the WalterFootball After Dark Show. When people brought it up in the comments, I thought it was fake. It turns out that this trade is very real, as Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis will be swapping teams.
I don’t understand this deal for the Mavericks. Doncic is in his prime. Sure, he gets hurt a lot, but he turns only 26 in a few weeks. By comparison, Davis will be 32 next month. Doncic will be great for the next six-plus years, while Davis will begin declining soon. There’s a chance this trade was the byproduct of Mark Cuban’s mental regression, which has been quite apparent recently if you’ve paid attention to anything he has said the past year. Cuban, 66, is losing his marbles, so perhaps he should be asked to take a step back from the team.
The Lakers, meanwhile, made out like bandits. Pairing Doncic with LeBron James gives them a chance to win the championship this year, provided they can obtain a center prior to the trade deadline.
Grade for Lakers – A+
Grade for Mavericks – MILLEN
Comment on the other free agent signings below.
Follow me @walterfootball for more hiring/signing grades and updates. Also, you can Support Us on Patreon here!
