Adding a player of Kevin Durant's caliber was too valuable an opportunity for the Houston Rockets to pass up, even though it meant moving on from Jalen Green just four seasons after they drafted him second overall.
Durant was officially acquired from Phoenix on Sunday in a complicated seven-team transaction that sent Green and Dillon Brooks to the Suns and brought Clint Capela back to Houston from the Hawks.
General manager Rafael Stone is thrilled to add the future Hall of Famer, who will turn 37 in September, to a team which made a huge leap last season to earn the second seed in the Western Conference.
Asked Monday why he wanted to add Durant to the team, Stone smiled broadly before answering.
"He's Kevin Durant," Stone said. "He's just - he's really good. He's super-efficient. He had a great year last year. He's obviously not 30 anymore, but he hasn't really fallen off and we just think he has a chance to really be impactful for us."