NBA Insider Shares Unexpected Reason Behind Agreed Upon Seven-Team Kevin Durant Trade

The first ever seven-team trade became official Sunday.

Suns forward Durant looks up after a play against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Kevin Durant's tenure in Phoenix ended two weeks ago when he was dealt to the Houston Rockets on the day of Game 7 of the NBA Finals. The deal has yet to become final until the league's new year began, which happened Sunday at 12:01 p.m. ET.

Since the Durant trade was agreed upon in principle, reports surfaced that the trade would expand to involve as many as five other teams, which would turn it into one of the biggest trades in NBA history. On Sunday, The Athletic's Fred Katz reported the record-setting seven-team trade was agreed to and it would consolidate a bunch of previously agreed upon deals into one trade.

In addition to the Rockets and Phoenix Suns, the Durant trade will also include the Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Believe it or not, the reason behind the incredibly detailed trade is somewhat dull.

"This is basically teams trying to save times on trade calls," Katz wrote on his X account Sunday. "Instead of having to do a bunch of different trade calls, now they just have to do one. So they worked it into one seven-team deal."

The first ever seven-team trade became official Sunday afternoon and ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania laid out the terms as simply as possible.

PHX: Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, Khaman Maluach, Rasheer Fleming, Koby Brea, Daeqwon Plowden, 2nd

HOU: Kevin Durant, Clint Capela

BKN: 2 2nds

GSW: Alex Toohey, Jahmai Mashack

ATL: 2nd swap, David Roddy, cash

LAL: Adou Thiero

MIN: Rocco Zikarsky, 2 2nds, cash

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 6, 2025

Work smarter, not harder.

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