Kevin Durant is a Houston Rocket. That still sounds strange to say out loud, but it is the reality that the entire Western Conference has to build around this coming season.
The Rockets acquired Durant from the Suns earlier in the offseason as part of Phoenix’s teardown, and now he sits at the top of a Houston roster that already had Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, Fred VanVleet, and Jalen Green. Ime Udoka has the most talented team he has ever coached, and the expectation in Houston is a Western Conference Finals appearance or better.
Durant is still one of the best pure scorers in the sport. He averaged 27 points per game last year in Phoenix on ridiculous shooting splits. He plays elite mid-range and post-up basketball, and his midrange game is the exact type of half-court weapon that wins playoff series when the whistle gets swallowed in April.
The concerns are the ones you know. He turns 38 in September. He has a long injury history. His defensive intensity, once a real strength, has faded over the last several seasons. The Rockets are betting that his shot creation and playmaking will be worth the tradeoffs, and that Houston’s young, athletic defense can hide him on the less-important matchups.
That bet is going to be tested. Oklahoma City won the title last year and they are running back most of the roster. Denver still has Jokic. Minnesota has the Anthony Edwards leap. The Lakers are rebuilding with Luka, but they are still Luka Doncic. The West is loaded.
What the Rockets have going for them is the depth. Sengun is a top-five center. Amen Thompson is a Defensive Player of the Year candidate and one of the most physically freakish athletes in the league. VanVleet is a proven playoff point guard. Jalen Green has the ability to catch fire in any given game and score 40.
Adding Durant to that group as a shot creator changes the ceiling completely. Houston was a play-in team two years ago and a first-round exit last year. This year they are a legitimate top-four seed in the West and they can look every contender in the mouth in a seven-game series.
The biggest question is fit. Durant is a ball-dominant scorer. So is Jalen Green, when he is on the floor. Sengun needs post touches. VanVleet needs the ball to run the offense. Somebody is going to have to sacrifice usage, and figuring out who does that gracefully is going to be Udoka’s job.
What Durant brings that Houston has never had is playoff pedigree. He has been to the Finals five times. He has won two rings. He knows how to reset a series after a loss. In a Western Conference where every contender has real weaknesses, having a proven closer is worth more than the raw stats suggest.
The Rockets are going to be a problem. Durant in Houston might just be the version of him that finally gets one more ring. Or it might be the last chapter of a career that never quite got the sustained success it deserved.
Either way, they are going to be must-watch television.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
