Report: Kevin Durant Could Face Setback With Extension After Trade to Rockets

PHOENIX -- When Kevin Durant was traded to the Houston Rockets last month, it was presumed he would sign an extension that would keep him in Houston for the next three years.

Durant became eligible for a two-year, $122 million extension when the trade to Houston was finalized on July 6, but has yet to sign it now over a month since the trade was complete.

ESPN's Tim MacMahon laid out where Durant's contract situation stands as he enters the final season of a four-year, $194.2 million deal on the Hoop Collective Podcast Friday.

"By all appearances and by what I’ve heard, (the Rockets) are not going all-in on an extension for Kevin Durant," MacMahon said. "That doesn’t mean it won’t happen. There have been rumblings of ‘Hey, KD is not going to push for the full max.'

"I don’t know that the Rockets are going to put anything on the table that’s close to the max. I think the Rockets... it’s not ideal, but I don’t think they would panic if they go into the season with Kevin Durant just on the (expiring) contract that he’s on."

"...they're not gonna go all-in with an extension for KD...KD's not going to push for the full max, I dont know the #Rockets are going to put anything on the table close to the full max..."
- Tim MacMahon[@espn_macmahon] on KD extension

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Thoughts?#LiftOff pic.twitter.com/FCmN7SDcAl
— Chris Gorman (@GormanChristoph) August 8, 2025

The Rockets have been hesitant across the board in terms of their players' long-term deals with the team as they navigate the NBA's economic environment while trying to lock up their younger players for the future.

If Houston signs Amen Thompson to a maximum rookie extension, the 2027-28 season, when Durant would be 39, would be the first year of Thompson's new deal, so it complicates how they want to approach Durant's extension, as that would be his final season on it.

This Durant extension was presumed to be a pretty big deciding factor on where he would want to be traded this offseason, and it got to the point where it seemed like whichever team that did acquire him, which ended up being the Rockets, would give him the two-year extension even if it wasn't the full value.

If Houston does not sign Durant to an extension, the Rockets would still have his bird rights heading into 2026 free agency, but it could make Durant one of the top free agents next summer.