Kevin Durant set to sign two-year contract deal with the Rockets

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Two-time NBA champion Kevin Durant has reportedly agreed to a two-year contract with the Houston Rockets, as announced on Oct. 20, 2025.

According to ESPN’s senior NBA insider Shams Charania, the 15-time NBA All-Star and the Rockets franchise settled on a two-year, USD90 million contract deal that would keep him in Houston until 2027.

Durant could’ve taken the USD120 million deal, but the 18-year veteran opted to take a pay cut to provide more fund flexibility for the Rockets.

With this move, Houston will still have USD30 million left to sign more role players, specifically when the trade deadline hits on Feb. 6, 2026.

In his first year in Houston, Durant will earn USD54.7 million, and the rest will be carried over in his final year, sans his player option selection for the 2027–28 season.

On June 23, 2025, Durant officially ended his stint with the Phoenix Suns when he was shipped to the Rockets for the fourth time in his career.

The massive trade made NBA history as the first-ever transaction to involve a total of seven franchises: Phoenix, Golden State, Atlanta, the Lakers, Minnesota, Brooklyn, and Houston.

Initially, in June, reports indicated a direct trade between Houston and Phoenix, with the Rockets sending Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 selection of the 2025 Draft, and five additional second-round picks for Durant.

However, the trade couldn’t be finalized after ESPN’s Tim Bontemps announced that a load of deal packages that took place before the Rookie Draft Ceremony were combined following the conclusion of the NBA’s annual moratorium on business.

To materialize the Durant acquisition, six other teams took part in the massive deal, headlined by the Suns, who added Khaman Maluach, Rasheer Fleming, Koby Brea, and Daeqwon Plowden.

Brooklyn, on the other hand, got the 2026 and 2030 second-round picks, while Golden State tapped the services of Alex Toohey and Jahmai Mashack.

Atlanta received David Roddy, a 2031 second-round pick, and cash considerations, while the Lakers got Adou Thiero and cash. Lastly, the Timberwolves nabbed Rocco Zikarsky and the 2026 and 2032 second-round picks.

In retrospect, The Athletic’s Sam Amick had already predicted the Durant trade to Houston last March and said he had been on the team’s watch list for over two years.

“We know that the Houstons of the world have been looking at Devin Booker and KD. So they’re certainly going to have a market and we’ll see what ends up happening with him this summer. But really bad across the board,” said Amick.