October 19, 2025
Signing the extension, Durant made history, becoming the career earnings leader.
Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets recently agreed to a two-year, $90 million extension, a figure that is approximately $30 million short of the maximum he could have collected if he chose to go to another team, but Durant isn’t exactly hurting for money, as ESPN reported, the deal still moves Durant into sole possession of the top spot in career earnings.
As Durant’s agent and Boardroom CEO Rich Kleiman told ESPN insider Shams Charnia, the team-friendly deal was crafted with an eye towards making sure the team has salary cap flexibility going forward even as Durant’s career earnings of $598.2 million, a figure that encompasses both current and future earnings, surpassed another basketball luminary, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, who has earned $$583.9 million over the course of his career.
The Rockets, who are coming off a fairly deep playoff run, but were plagued by the lack of a consistent deep threat, often rearing its head at inopportune times, such as the series against Golden State, when they had no one to match the ability of Stephen Curry, Buddy Hield, and, on occasion, Jimmy Butler, to hit timely three point buckets.
The Durant trade, officially the most complicated trade in NBA history, involving seven teams, sent Rockets players Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, No. 10 draft pick Khaman Maluach and second-round picks Rasheer Fleming and Koby Brea to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Durant, in effect, offering the Suns a rebuild powered by a significant infusion of youth, while it paired Durant with some of the most intriguing young talent in the entire league.
Veteran Rockets fans likely remember the late career flame-outs of Scottie Pippen and Charles Barkley, who never quite were able to match their salaries and their play in a Rockets uniform while playing alongside a still effective, but aging Hakeem Olajuwon; however, by all accounts, the Durant trade seems to be a different deal, but the ghosts of the past are hard to shake.
In addition to the Durant deal, the Rockets have taken care of their core additions, including head coach Ime Udoka, who has rebounded from his scandal with the Boston Celtics to reemerge as one of the league’s premier head coaches. The team has also reached new deals with Fred VanVleet, Steven Adams, and Jabari Smith Jr., acquired Dorian Finney-Smith, Clint Capela, and Josh Okogie via free agency, and re-signed last year’s key veterans Jae’Sean Tate, Aaron Holiday, and Jeff Green.
According to oddsmakers, Durant’s presence on the team has elevated the Rockets from a fringe threat to potential NBA championship contenders. The team currently has the fifth-best odds to lift the Larry O’Brien trophy at the end of the 2025-2026 postseason.
Following their impressive 133-115 preseason win against the Atlanta Hawks, which saw Houston’s Reed Sheppard outplay the Hawks’ 2024 number one pick, Zach Risacher, the Rockets open the season against the team that drafted Durant, the defending champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder.
RELATED CONTENT: Kevin Durant Puzzled Why He’s Not In NBA’s Greatest Of All-Time Discussion
