Kevin Durant Reacts To Amen Thompson’s Five-Year, $208 Million Rockets Contract Extension Deal In Houston

HOUSTON — The Houston Rockets have secured the long-term future of their young core, locking up 23-year-old guard Amen Thompson with a five-year, $208 million contract extension, a move that drew an emphatic reaction from veteran teammate Kevin Durant.

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Thompson agreed to the rookie-scale extension on Sept. 3, with the deal including a 10% trade kicker and running through the 2031-32 season. The Rockets later officially announced the agreement.

Durant, who saw the news announced on social media, responded on his Instagram Story with a direct message aimed at his younger teammate.

“Don’t wanna hear a word; everything on twin all year,” Durant wrote over an ESPN graphic announcing the extension.

Thompson earned the significant financial commitment following the best statistical season of his young career. During the 2025-26 season, Thompson averaged 18.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 53.4% from the field and starting all 79 games he appeared in. He also led the entire NBA in total minutes played over the course of the season.

Thompson’s production placed him among an elite statistical group last season. He was one of just nine players in the league to average at least 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists, joining a list that includes Alperen Sengun, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Scottie Barnes, Jalen Johnson, Paolo Banchero and Giannis Antetokounmpo, with Thompson standing as the youngest player to reach that statistical threshold.

Rockets general manager Rafael Stone addressed the significance of the extension in the team’s official announcement, pointing specifically to Thompson’s development and two-way impact on the roster.

“Amen represents everything we want our organization to be about,” Stone said, adding that Thompson has improved “in every facet of his game.”

Thompson’s new deal comes as part of a broader pattern of the Rockets locking up their young core over the past two seasons. Houston has now reached multiyear contract extensions with Thompson, Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason, giving the franchise financial cost certainty around its core rotation players for at least the next several seasons, until Sengun reaches a player option in his own contract that he can exercise for the 2029-30 season.

Thompson becomes only the second player from the 2023 NBA Draft class to sign a rookie-scale extension, joining San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama. Several other players from that same draft class remain eligible for extensions but have not yet reached agreements with their respective teams, including Charlotte’s Brandon Miller, Detroit’s Ausar Thompson, Utah’s Keyonte George, Oklahoma City’s Cason Wallace and Milwaukee’s Jaime Jaquez Jr.

Under the terms of Thompson’s previous rookie contract, he was set to earn $12.3 million during the 2026-27 season, with that figure rising sharply to $35.8 million in 2027-28. Notably, that 2027-28 salary would have matched what his former Rockets teammate Jalen Green is currently earning, despite Thompson having been drafted two years after Green. Green, who was traded to the Phoenix Suns last summer as part of the deal that brought Durant to Houston, reacted to news of Thompson’s extension on social media with a heart emoji.

Durant’s own contract situation with the Rockets adds additional context to his reaction. Before last season, Durant agreed to a two-year, $90 million extension with Houston that included a player option for the 2027-28 season, a deal widely characterized as a pay cut relative to what Durant could likely have commanded on the open market, one made specifically to help give the Rockets additional financial flexibility to reward their emerging young core with extensions of their own, including Thompson’s new deal.

Durant joined the Rockets last summer in a blockbuster trade that sent Green to the Suns in return. Since arriving in Houston, Durant and Thompson have developed what has been described as a close working relationship and mutual admiration, with Thompson reportedly viewing Durant’s arrival, and the scoring attention Durant draws from opposing defenses, as an opportunity to further sharpen his own defensive game.

Despite Thompson’s clear offensive and defensive growth, some analysts have identified his outside shooting as the most significant area still requiring development. Thompson shot just 21.6% from three-point range last season, with the majority of his made field goals coming on dunks and finishes near the basket rather than perimeter shots.

Former NBA player Joe Johnson, appearing on the Night Cap podcast with Shannon Sharpe, was direct in describing the priority Thompson should place on his jump shot heading into the offseason.

“All he should be doing is putting up jump shots, you know, this summer,” Johnson said. “I mean, because look, that tells me one thing. The Houston Rockets really believe that he is like that. You know, invest that type of money into you. Come on, bro. You got to develop this jumper. They’re going to need that.”

The Rockets have taken steps to address that specific area of Thompson’s game, hiring a new shooting coach in July who is expected to work closely with Thompson on refining his jump shot heading into the coming season.

Durant’s own experience during his first season in Houston highlighted the stakes tied to Thompson’s shooting development. Opposing teams frequently sent double-teams at Durant in crucial situations last season, in part because they were comfortable leaving Thompson open as a kickout option in the paint, given his limited perimeter shooting threat at the time.

Should Thompson and the Rockets’ new shooting coach make meaningful progress on that specific weakness, and should Durant continue mentoring Thompson on navigating those defensive coverages, analysts have suggested the Rockets’ overall offensive ceiling could rise significantly. With Thompson, Sengun, Smith and Eason all now under contract for multiple additional seasons alongside Durant, Houston enters the 2026-27 campaign with one of the more financially secure young cores in the league, giving the franchise, which has won 52 games in each of the past two seasons, a clear runway to continue building around its emerging star group in the years ahead.