\u201cI thought it was an awesome trade for Houston,\u201d The Ringer\u2019s Bill Simmons says of this week\u2019s Kevin Durant trade. \u201cI just loved it for them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The early reviews of the Kevin Durant trade have been extremely positive<\/a> for the Houston Rockets<\/a>, and that includes podcast analysis from longtime NBA media personalities Bill Simmons and Ryen Russillo.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought it was an awesome trade for Houston,\u201d Simmons said in Monday\u2019s podcast<\/a> from The Ringer. \u201cI just loved it for them. They didn\u2019t give up Jabari Smith Jr. in the trade. That\u2019s a (expletive) miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n Russillo then tied in the Durant deal with others made by Rockets general manager Rafael Stone in recent years.<\/p>\n \u201cI loved it,\u201d he said. \u201cStone is on an absolute heater. He\u2019s been incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n In recent weeks, Simmons had projected the Phoenix Suns<\/a> to receive significantly more from the Rockets<\/a> in a hypothetical Durant-to-Houston trade.<\/p>\n The complete Durant trade segment with Simmons and Russillo can be viewed below. As for Stone, his Rockets have improved from 22-60 two years ago (and last place among 15 Western Conference teams) to 52-30 and No. 2 in the West during this past season \u2014 and now they\u2019re adding an All-Star forward and future Hall of Famer to that foundation. It\u2019s hard to argue with the results and speed of this drastic turnaround in Houston.<\/p>\n One of Stone\u2019s only moves that some had questioned during those two years was the contract extension handed out to Green last October. But without that, the financial framework<\/a> of this week\u2019s Durant deal wouldn\u2019t have been possible. So, that move ended up aging well, too.<\/p>\n In the end, the Rockets now have an elite scorer in Durant and a veteran floor general in Fred VanVleet to guide a young and improving roster that features promising prospects such as Smith, Amen Thompson, Alperen Sengun, Tari Eason, Cam Whitmore, and Reed Sheppard.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a good place to be.<\/p>\n