Houston Rockets trading for Kevin Durant (or another veteran star)
In the off-chance that the Houston Rockets would've moved up in the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery, the odds of them trading the pick were probably going to dwindle. In fact, I can't really see any of the teams in the top 4 of this year's NBA Draft looking to move out of those positions, especially considering how strong of a class this has been touted up to be. Nevertheless, with the Rockets dropping one spot to 10th, I can't help but wonder if it opens the door even more to a potential trade.
And if the Rockets could get away with trading the No. 10 pick and a salary filler to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Kevin Durant, who they've been linked to over the past few months, I'd have a hard time envisioning them declining the deal. KD doesn't make a ton of sense for this team's timeline, but if they could have him relatively cheap, it'd be surprising if they didn't at least explore the possibility.
If the Rockets feel as if they're close to potentially breaking through in the Western Conference, taking a 1-2 year flier on KD isn't the worst offseason scenario that could play out. Even though Houston had a pretty unceremonious end to their season, they did take a huge developmental step forward as a franchise. With how wide open the Western Conference is (with the exception of the Oklahoma City Thunder), why can't the Rockets be "next team up"?
It'll be interesting to see how the trade market for KD develops heading into the start of the NBA offseason, and you'd imagine the Rockets are going to be factored in one way or another. With how the NBA Draft Lottery unfolded, the Rockets trading for KD is probably just a little more realistic of a scenario.