Kevin Durant won't save the Rockets

But it's a good deal anyway

Kevin Durant is about to turn 37, has a rich injury history, and commands the league’s fourth-highest salary. SLAVEN VLASIC/GETTY IMAGES

Years into a patient rebuild and youth movement, the Rockets just pivoted to win-now by making a deal with Mat Ishbia’s Suns for the expensive and old Kevin Durant.

Durant has long been the NBA’s foremost sniper. Other players might be physically tougher, better on defense, or more charismatic leaders. But this guy can get you a bucket, and everyone reveres that.

Maybe too much. Since leaving Stephen Curry and the Warriors, Durant has toured the league making a top salary from one impulsive billionaire after another. He’s the hood ornament for whichever team is most desperate to look impressive–first Mikhail Prokhorov, then Mat Ishbia, now the Rockets’ troubled billionaire Tilman Fertitta.

Over this period, when someone trade…