June 23, 2025 • 10 mins
Following the last day of the NBA season regarding the NBA Final's Game 7 between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers, the Houston Rockets waste no time in the offseason making a huge splash before the madness tips off. Now on his way to Houston, 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant is now a Houston Rocket, sending shockwaves throughout the NBA in exchange for Jalen Green, Dillion Brooks along with multiple draft picks and assets sent to Phoenix. Signaling at Houston's bold intent to contend for the West next season, Sean and Dan share a few thoughts on what they potentially believe the Rockets organization may look like with the 2x Finals Champion leading the charge.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Was breaking news. Kevin Durant has been traded. And as
soon as I heard that, that's the old you know,
turn up the dial a little bit, you know, I
want to hear this to the Houston Rockets, and I
was like, oh my gosh. So then immediately it's well,
what's the package. Jalen Green, Dylan Brooks, the tenth pick
overall in this upcoming draft which will be on Wednesday,
and then five at second round picks heading back to
(00:23):
the Phoenix Suns immediately when the deal is made. Jalen
Green to me at first was a little bit of
a surprise, but then it really wasn't once I started
to think about it a little bit.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
No, no surprise, maybe a little bit if he'd have
been gone in somewhere was a lesser star power name
Kevin Durant's thirty six.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
I have mixed emotions about this. I do.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
I don't think there's any question. You know, we know
last off season the talker, are you gonna move him in?
During the season, even at the beginning of the year,
they hung in there boom Win, I got on fire.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
He's improved, meaning Jalen Green.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I think the Golden State Series if they were sitting
on the fence about the future move him. If he
plays really good basketball in five of those games of
the seven, I'm not sure he's gone right now. I
think in postseason it's heightened, its hyper sensitive. You start
to look at guys the way we judge is that
(01:19):
who he is? Is he a regular season All American?
But the postseason just he disappears. Sure they met. That
made it easy for the door to stay open and
in truth. Right now, as we sit today, Kevin Durant
gives you a better chance to win than Jalen Green does.
He's been in him, he's big moments, one of the
best closers we've had in NBA history. We know about that.
(01:39):
What are you going to get on the buy in?
I'm sure he will, Udoka will give him buy in.
I'm talking about the buying on the defensive end from
can he still do it? You know when he puts
his mind to it in the past, he's been, He's
long and is able to do it. But the perimeter defense,
how how much can he give you or is he will?
Hopefully a lot? Hopefully it's rejuvenated and revitalized. But we've
had this message We've had this question about Durant a
(02:01):
handful of times where he's gone, so on the the
initial part of it over the neck. This is a
think about this, even though not the contract, but think
about the mentality of this trade is simply this, in
my opinion, is it an upgrade for the next year
and a half to two years.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
It absolutely is. It absolutely is.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
You're talking about a top twenty five player of all time.
I think in most people's mind at least score and
shooter her right. And he's got championships, so he's in
the team picture, right and once he got left or
where's is the enthusiasm? Does he feel like he has
unproven Kevin Durant. Sure, but think about this like you
would a rental in baseball, but not Canny. That's oh,
(02:43):
you get him half season, he's gone because of money.
You got him under contract. But you got to start
to think, Kevin Durant's thirty six and so this is
in my opinion, it's a two year I think the
windows open a lot longer for the for the Rockets,
but with Kevin Durant on the roster, the this window
is a two year window. So don't start looking at
thirty nine years old, because he's had trouble closing in
(03:05):
a couple places, meaning his team in places not named
Golden State and in Phoenix where they just haven't been
able to. So that guy is the one who's supposed
to get you over the top. Phoenix got him to
get him over the top, right, they just did when Brooklyn,
I mean, we start to look around the teams that
win got got him to get over the top. Golden
(03:25):
State got him to add to what was already a
monster franchise. So here we are at thirty six. He'll
he's gonna he's gonna fall out of bed and get
you twenty five. So you get that. And the guy
who wants the ball at the end still is Kevin Durant,
and that's a good thing. We've seen him handle it
from the point and dribble up there and be the
facilitator when he was in Golden State when he needed
to do it.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
So it's two year window.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
If they make the playoffs or get to the Western
Conference Finals and lose in the next year's this trade.
Normally I wouldn't say this, but considering the rental part
of it of his career, because his age and with
the window you're looking at for him to be still
a fairly dominant player on the offensive end this two
year window.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
If you just make the playoffs, it's a failed trade.
It just is now.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
If you go close it out and win, then it
was worth it no matter what happens. If Jalen Green
goes on and wins the MVP three times in a
row and Dylan Brooks is an All Star and after
you win it, they helped Phoenix win it two years later,
it's still that both teams won. I'll always take the
ring over what if anytime, But if they don't, you're
gonna go back into five second round picks, two first
(04:30):
round picks. Dylan Brooks, who while out of Superstar, is
a player that do you mean? He's got basketball skill,
He's an agitator, he's a good you know, one of
those guys you love on your team you hate playing
against him. And Jalen Green, if he can ever get
his postseason mox hip in consistency, he may end up
being a top ten scorer in the league. He's got
that skill set. So to me, it's on the short term.
(04:51):
Rockets win it. If they win an NBA title, be
worth it for the next twenty five years, no matter
what happens. If they don't, just getting there will not
be enough. Like for instance, when I say the Astros
and I know the Rockets aren't Astros yet, but we're
starting to think along that line getting better every year.
They had, you know, second best record in the West
this year. Boom boom boom, boom boom, and you start
to look at the youth and the guy who's running
the team, not only in the front office but the
(05:13):
head coach. Okay, yeah, this is the windows open. But
the Kevin Durant window on this franchise is two years.
If they don't win it, it's not a good trade.
If they do it, and just getting there will not
be enough because they didn't. If you just want to
get there, Jalen Green, get you the playoffs, this is
get win it. And it's a window. And they saw
the opportunity, and it's an expensive window. But if all
(05:35):
of a sudden three years, if you say sean five
years from now, yeah it's a five. Kevin Durant's gonna
be here till he's till he's forty three. If that,
if that was the trade that you think it's a
four or five years away. I don't make that trade,
but on the urgent and now you have to do
it because of who the guy is and the game
he still got left. If this is two years from now,
I don't make it, but you have just getting there
(05:57):
will not be good enough because their team's good enough
to get there regardless of making any trade. And by
the way, they still have plenty of firepower to go
get the other guy if they want. If they want,
they do have enough firepower and assets. That's why you
gather all these assets to do this. Now Phoenix will
probably you know, put some together and use some of
those second round picks to trade up in the first
round or give them to somebody else to get another player.
(06:19):
But I like it now, but it's it's it's a window,
and it's not I like it because they got to
the playoffs. I need them winning the Western Conference and
representing the Western Conference. Then that validates why you went
and got him, because if you didn't, you'd be saying,
let's fight through the Jaalen Green stuff. In two years
from now, he may be one of the best closers
in the league. If he can get over that Golden
State Series.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
This is the Justin Verlander trade August of twenty seventeen.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Without it being about a contract inning. It's the Justin
Verlander trade or the Randy Johnson gets that. It's the
Justin Verlander trade. Window wise, Yes, you knew you had
a chance with the Astros. They got him, and they
went and got it. You know you have a chance
already without Kevin Durant.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
You go get him.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
This is the This is that you know when you're
putting those four hundred piece puzzles together and at the
end there's always one missing and you look on it,
you can't find it, and it's under part of the
table that you just couldn't find. Oh, there it is,
and you put it in as a final piece. Right
now they're holding that piece and it's Kevin Durant. The
question is isn't gonna fit? And if it does sounds cheesy,
but it's a fact. Just getting to the playoffs or
(07:20):
winning a couple series and will not be enough. You
brought this guy into Verlander it that's exactly why he's here.
And if you don't the Kukuchi it was great on
the surface, right over the long haul, it's not the
great trade because we didn't get to resign him. But
this isn't about the money part. This is about the
age and where Kevin Durant is an elite player at
to win. So I just say two years a guy
(07:41):
can still score so and it's a better He's better
than Jalen Green right now, well two years from now.
I think that we'll look at it. If they didn't win
the championship, say, I wish we wouldn't have made it,
but you gotta go all it. I do love the
fact that they decided we're not waiting until twenty twenty eight.
There's an opportunity here. Durant wants to be here. Let's
go pull this off and see what we got. But
(08:02):
to pull it off is to win and hoist the
trophy like Oklahoma City did that? Did they doing it?
You want exactly what happened to Oklahoma City. That's exactly
what you want. You want Men Thompson to be your
star and Kevin Durant to be the early star. But
as you grow the untouchable, you want the shen good.
I mean, you look at their starting five, dude, and
(08:23):
if they get the production from the bench, this good team,
and they do have a lot of firepowers.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
So to me, this is a you need win.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
It will validate it and then you never have to
don't worry about what the other eight guys do. Ten guys,
don't worry about it. Let it what it would be.
Nine guys, five, two and two. So there you go,
two current five draft pick. There's seven draft picks, so
don't worry about that. And it doesn't even matter where
they go to the Phoenix Suns that they win one
after you. The key is if you win one. This
trade was worth it. But I think when you look
(08:51):
at skill set wise, it's about a two year go
with him and then you can replace him. Go because
they're young enough to carry this where the window stays open.
But you got to appro like Oklahoma City Star carry
it deep bench, dude, Look what they did last night
with Dort and chet Holmgren on the defensive end. Now
we can get I know, the MVP and Gilgess Alexander
(09:12):
the defensive end. Last night they thwarted and having no
Tyrese Halibert other than the first seven minutes obviously, so
on good luck to him because it sounds like it's
an Achilles yeah, but it's just and it was the
def and the effort in block shots and getting up
and down the floor. They went in the fourth quarter,
minute after minute after minute. They tried to let Indiana
back into it. They couldn knock down and they didn't
get him score basket there getting free throw, they could
score basket and then Holmgren got a dunk.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
But it was the defensive end. So that's what you're going.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
You're looking for the one or two pieces, and they believe,
and so I think all of us do that Kevin
Durant in the next two years can get through. If you're
looking at twenty twenty seven, twenty twenty eight, I would
suggest you say no. If you're looking at the next
two years, that windows there. I think you have no
choice but to go get Kevin Durant.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
And I think that, you know, just for the pieces
that were in this trade, a lot being said about that,
and I think that it is very explainable what the
Rockets did. Chris and Katie see, you're right there. We'll
get you involved in the conversation. We'll carry this over.
It is the Shawn Salisbury Show Sports Talk seven ninety
Was breaking news. Kevin Durant has been traded. And as
soon as I heard that, that's the old you know,
turn up the dial a little bit, you know, I
want to hear this to the Houston Rockets, and I
was like, oh my gosh. So then immediately it's well,
what's the package. Jalen Green, Dylan Brooks, the tenth pick
overall in this upcoming draft which will be on Wednesday,
and then five at second round picks heading back to
(00:23):
the Phoenix Suns immediately when the deal is made. Jalen
Green to me at first was a little bit of
a surprise, but then it really wasn't once I started
to think about it a little bit.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
No, no surprise, maybe a little bit if he'd have
been gone in somewhere was a lesser star power name
Kevin Durant's thirty six.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
I have mixed emotions about this. I do.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
I don't think there's any question. You know, we know
last off season the talker, are you gonna move him in?
During the season, even at the beginning of the year,
they hung in there boom Win, I got on fire.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
He's improved, meaning Jalen Green.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I think the Golden State Series if they were sitting
on the fence about the future move him. If he
plays really good basketball in five of those games of
the seven, I'm not sure he's gone right now. I
think in postseason it's heightened, its hyper sensitive. You start
to look at guys the way we judge is that
(01:19):
who he is? Is he a regular season All American?
But the postseason just he disappears. Sure they met. That
made it easy for the door to stay open and
in truth. Right now, as we sit today, Kevin Durant
gives you a better chance to win than Jalen Green does.
He's been in him, he's big moments, one of the
best closers we've had in NBA history. We know about that.
(01:39):
What are you going to get on the buy in?
I'm sure he will, Udoka will give him buy in.
I'm talking about the buying on the defensive end from
can he still do it? You know when he puts
his mind to it in the past, he's been, He's
long and is able to do it. But the perimeter defense,
how how much can he give you or is he will?
Hopefully a lot? Hopefully it's rejuvenated and revitalized. But we've
had this message We've had this question about Durant a
(02:01):
handful of times where he's gone, so on the the
initial part of it over the neck. This is a
think about this, even though not the contract, but think
about the mentality of this trade is simply this, in
my opinion, is it an upgrade for the next year
and a half to two years.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
It absolutely is. It absolutely is.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
You're talking about a top twenty five player of all time.
I think in most people's mind at least score and
shooter her right. And he's got championships, so he's in
the team picture, right and once he got left or
where's is the enthusiasm? Does he feel like he has
unproven Kevin Durant. Sure, but think about this like you
would a rental in baseball, but not Canny. That's oh,
(02:43):
you get him half season, he's gone because of money.
You got him under contract. But you got to start
to think, Kevin Durant's thirty six and so this is
in my opinion, it's a two year I think the
windows open a lot longer for the for the Rockets,
but with Kevin Durant on the roster, the this window
is a two year window. So don't start looking at
thirty nine years old, because he's had trouble closing in
(03:05):
a couple places, meaning his team in places not named
Golden State and in Phoenix where they just haven't been
able to. So that guy is the one who's supposed
to get you over the top. Phoenix got him to
get him over the top, right, they just did when Brooklyn,
I mean, we start to look around the teams that
win got got him to get over the top. Golden
(03:25):
State got him to add to what was already a
monster franchise. So here we are at thirty six. He'll
he's gonna he's gonna fall out of bed and get
you twenty five. So you get that. And the guy
who wants the ball at the end still is Kevin Durant,
and that's a good thing. We've seen him handle it
from the point and dribble up there and be the
facilitator when he was in Golden State when he needed
to do it.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
So it's two year window.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
If they make the playoffs or get to the Western
Conference Finals and lose in the next year's this trade.
Normally I wouldn't say this, but considering the rental part
of it of his career, because his age and with
the window you're looking at for him to be still
a fairly dominant player on the offensive end this two
year window.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
If you just make the playoffs, it's a failed trade.
It just is now.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
If you go close it out and win, then it
was worth it no matter what happens. If Jalen Green
goes on and wins the MVP three times in a
row and Dylan Brooks is an All Star and after
you win it, they helped Phoenix win it two years later,
it's still that both teams won. I'll always take the
ring over what if anytime, But if they don't, you're
gonna go back into five second round picks, two first
(04:30):
round picks. Dylan Brooks, who while out of Superstar, is
a player that do you mean? He's got basketball skill,
He's an agitator, he's a good you know, one of
those guys you love on your team you hate playing
against him. And Jalen Green, if he can ever get
his postseason mox hip in consistency, he may end up
being a top ten scorer in the league. He's got
that skill set. So to me, it's on the short term.
(04:51):
Rockets win it. If they win an NBA title, be
worth it for the next twenty five years, no matter
what happens. If they don't, just getting there will not
be enough. Like for instance, when I say the Astros
and I know the Rockets aren't Astros yet, but we're
starting to think along that line getting better every year.
They had, you know, second best record in the West
this year. Boom boom boom, boom boom, and you start
to look at the youth and the guy who's running
the team, not only in the front office but the
(05:13):
head coach. Okay, yeah, this is the windows open. But
the Kevin Durant window on this franchise is two years.
If they don't win it, it's not a good trade.
If they do it, and just getting there will not
be enough because they didn't. If you just want to
get there, Jalen Green, get you the playoffs, this is
get win it. And it's a window. And they saw
the opportunity, and it's an expensive window. But if all
(05:35):
of a sudden three years, if you say sean five
years from now, yeah it's a five. Kevin Durant's gonna
be here till he's till he's forty three. If that,
if that was the trade that you think it's a
four or five years away. I don't make that trade,
but on the urgent and now you have to do
it because of who the guy is and the game
he still got left. If this is two years from now,
I don't make it, but you have just getting there
(05:57):
will not be good enough because their team's good enough
to get there regardless of making any trade. And by
the way, they still have plenty of firepower to go
get the other guy if they want. If they want,
they do have enough firepower and assets. That's why you
gather all these assets to do this. Now Phoenix will
probably you know, put some together and use some of
those second round picks to trade up in the first
round or give them to somebody else to get another player.
(06:19):
But I like it now, but it's it's it's a window,
and it's not I like it because they got to
the playoffs. I need them winning the Western Conference and
representing the Western Conference. Then that validates why you went
and got him, because if you didn't, you'd be saying,
let's fight through the Jaalen Green stuff. In two years
from now, he may be one of the best closers
in the league. If he can get over that Golden
State Series.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
This is the Justin Verlander trade August of twenty seventeen.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Without it being about a contract inning. It's the Justin
Verlander trade or the Randy Johnson gets that. It's the
Justin Verlander trade. Window wise, Yes, you knew you had
a chance with the Astros. They got him, and they
went and got it. You know you have a chance
already without Kevin Durant.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
You go get him.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
This is the This is that you know when you're
putting those four hundred piece puzzles together and at the
end there's always one missing and you look on it,
you can't find it, and it's under part of the
table that you just couldn't find. Oh, there it is,
and you put it in as a final piece. Right
now they're holding that piece and it's Kevin Durant. The
question is isn't gonna fit? And if it does sounds cheesy,
but it's a fact. Just getting to the playoffs or
(07:20):
winning a couple series and will not be enough. You
brought this guy into Verlander it that's exactly why he's here.
And if you don't the Kukuchi it was great on
the surface, right over the long haul, it's not the
great trade because we didn't get to resign him. But
this isn't about the money part. This is about the
age and where Kevin Durant is an elite player at
to win. So I just say two years a guy
(07:41):
can still score so and it's a better He's better
than Jalen Green right now, well two years from now.
I think that we'll look at it. If they didn't win
the championship, say, I wish we wouldn't have made it,
but you gotta go all it. I do love the
fact that they decided we're not waiting until twenty twenty eight.
There's an opportunity here. Durant wants to be here. Let's
go pull this off and see what we got. But
(08:02):
to pull it off is to win and hoist the
trophy like Oklahoma City did that? Did they doing it?
You want exactly what happened to Oklahoma City. That's exactly
what you want. You want Men Thompson to be your
star and Kevin Durant to be the early star. But
as you grow the untouchable, you want the shen good.
I mean, you look at their starting five, dude, and
(08:23):
if they get the production from the bench, this good team,
and they do have a lot of firepowers.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
So to me, this is a you need win.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
It will validate it and then you never have to
don't worry about what the other eight guys do. Ten guys,
don't worry about it. Let it what it would be.
Nine guys, five, two and two. So there you go,
two current five draft pick. There's seven draft picks, so
don't worry about that. And it doesn't even matter where
they go to the Phoenix Suns that they win one
after you. The key is if you win one. This
trade was worth it. But I think when you look
(08:51):
at skill set wise, it's about a two year go
with him and then you can replace him. Go because
they're young enough to carry this where the window stays open.
But you got to appro like Oklahoma City Star carry
it deep bench, dude, Look what they did last night
with Dort and chet Holmgren on the defensive end. Now
we can get I know, the MVP and Gilgess Alexander
(09:12):
the defensive end. Last night they thwarted and having no
Tyrese Halibert other than the first seven minutes obviously, so
on good luck to him because it sounds like it's
an Achilles yeah, but it's just and it was the
def and the effort in block shots and getting up
and down the floor. They went in the fourth quarter,
minute after minute after minute. They tried to let Indiana
back into it. They couldn knock down and they didn't
get him score basket there getting free throw, they could
score basket and then Holmgren got a dunk.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
But it was the defensive end. So that's what you're going.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
You're looking for the one or two pieces, and they believe,
and so I think all of us do that Kevin
Durant in the next two years can get through. If you're
looking at twenty twenty seven, twenty twenty eight, I would
suggest you say no. If you're looking at the next
two years, that windows there. I think you have no
choice but to go get Kevin Durant.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
And I think that, you know, just for the pieces
that were in this trade, a lot being said about that,
and I think that it is very explainable what the
Rockets did. Chris and Katie see, you're right there. We'll
get you involved in the conversation. We'll carry this over.
It is the Shawn Salisbury Show Sports Talk seven ninety
Popular Podcasts
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.