The Houston Rockets didn’t just make a bold trade this summer. They dismantled the identity of a team that clawed its way to the No. 2 seed and pushed Golden State to the edge. Jalen Green. Dillon Brooks. Two players who became the heartbeat of a young roster. Gone, shipped out for one man: Kevin Durant.

On paper, the trade screams ambition; a direct move to seize control of the West and turn a rising team into an instant contender. But behind the scenes, this wasn’t a clean, clinical decision. The man who orchestrated it admits he felt something more complicated and heavier, and what he revealed says as much about the human side of the game as it does about the business.

He didn’t celebrate when the deal was done. “ We understood what they wanted to get for Kevin, and it just didn’t ma

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