The biggest news on Sunday was the saga of Kevin Durant coming to a close. News broke midday that Durant would be traded to the Houston Rockets for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No.10 pick in this year's draft, and five second-rounders. Fortunately for the fans, they didn't have long to hear from Durant himself on the trade, as news broke while he was interviewing with Kay Adams during Fanatics Fest.
Durant was seemingly pleased with the move, telling Adams, “Being a part of the Houston Rockets, I’m looking forward to it." He added: “They had a great season last year, love their leadership. I felt like I’d be a good addition." Durant is right in that the Rockets did have a great season and were a team on the rise. They have a solid core and look to be modeling their team in the vein of the 2025 NBA Champions Oklahoma City Thunder.
Adding Durant on paper is a no-brainer. But Durant is mercurial, and his last few stops have started on a high note and ended in turmoil. In his introductory press conference to the Suns he praised the team, infrastructure ,and leadership.
"So I’m excited I’m here, I’m looking forward to trying to add as much as I can to the group already. Like I’ve said, they’ve built themselves up and built an infrastructure for themselves already, and I’m looking forward to adding to it."Kevin Durant; February 2023
Sound familiar? So what about when he leaves a team? Durant played on one of the greatest teams in NBA history and won two titles with the Golden State Warriors. It could have been described as "basketball nirvana". Leaving that must have been difficult, right? Apparently not. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal (h/t SBNation), Durant said the following:
"I came in there wanting to be part of a group, wanting to be part of a family, and definitely felt accepted. But I’ll never be one of those guys. I didn’t get drafted there... Steph Curry, obviously drafted there. Andre Iguodala won the first Finals, first championship. Klay Thompson, drafted there. Draymond Green, drafted there. ... As time went on, I started to realize I’m just different from the rest of the guys."Kevin Durant, September 2019
So, everything is good heading in, and there's always something amiss on the way out. It wasn't any different this go around either. In reference to leaving Phoenix, Durant didn't hold back on his thoughts on leaving the team.
" They wanted me to go. They got what they wanted, and I got what I wanted. We can move on and good luck to them going forward, always remember my time there."Kevin Durant
That sounds like someone on the other side of a messy breakup, not necessarily a locker room leader. So what does this mean for the Rockets? Early betting odds on ESPNBet have them with the second-best overall odds to win the title next season. Rockets fans should not be quite as optimistic, though.
Adding Durant Will Complicate the Rockets Rotation More Than Help It
The Rockets offloaded Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks to bring in Durant. They avoided adding another rotational piece with the 10th overall pick as well. Before the trade, the Rockets were going to have issues spreading minutes around and effectively developing their young players. But that issue was a bigger concern in the backcourt. Now that issue persists in the frontcourt.
A starting lineup including Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Durant, and Alperen Sengun is daunting. The Rockets will have some options to fill out that last spot. They can opt for lineups including Cam Whitmore or Reed Sheppard. They may even opt to have Thompson play out of position. But the backcourt rotation is cleaner now with Brooks and Green gone.
The front court becomes a legitimate concern. Assuming Durant and Sengun take up 32+ minutes each, that leaves approximately 32 minutes total to spread amongst Steven Adams, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason. That's a significant drop-off for Smith and Eason. It's going to be difficult to allow for Smith and Eason to continue their development in short minutes.
That isn't to say that if Kevin Durant is on the roster, he should be there in a reduced role. He's still an elite offensive player heading into his 18th season. No one on the Rockets roster even comes close to touching his offensive skill set. Assuming the Rockets figure out an extension quickly, he should be established as a focal point of the rotation for the next few years.
But if things don't go well early on, it could be easy to see the media, the fans, and even some of the players question if Durant's offense is worth it, considering the balance the Rockets roster had in 2024-25.
Head coach Ime Udoka runs a tight ship, but young players who are looking at a reduced role, an outspoken future Hall of Famer, and a team trying to balance minutes could lead to fireworks and not the good kind. Udoka will have to level set early with Durant and the Rockets' returning bigs, otherwise this new marriage may end up being short-lived.