Houston won’t formally acquire Kevin Durant and Clint Capela until this weekend, and The Athletic says the deal may involve an NBA-record seven teams.
While the primary acquisitions would stay the same as what has already been reported, it’s possible the Houston Rockets could soon make history by being part of a seven-team trade.
Per Fred Katz and Kelly Iko of The Athletic, the Rockets and Phoenix Suns are working on expanding the Kevin Durant trade into a deal that would involve an NBA-record seven teams. The combination of multiple teams and deals could perhaps make it easier for some of them to comply with the NBA’s salary matching rules for transactions.
Other teams involved in these negotiations include the Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves, according to The Athletic. Atlanta’s involvement would include the sign-and-trade sending Clint Capela to Houston.
“Most of the recognizable names are from trades that have already been agreed to and reported but not yet finalized,” The Athletic reports. Several are from draft-night trades that are yet to be finalized, with some teams needing to wait until the start of the 2025-26 fiscal year in July.
As things stand, the largest trade in NBA history (by teams involved) is a six-team deal in 2024 that was headlined by Klay Thompson joining the Dallas Mavericks.
The current moratorium on 2025-26 NBA transactions ends on Sunday, July 6, at which point transactions such as Houston’s deals for Durant and Capela can be made official.