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The question has been raised throughout the season. Should the Houston Rockets have made last offseason’s trade for Kevin Durant?
Those who say no will likely reference Houston’s eerily similar winning clip to last season. To that point, the Rockets have gone 37-22 through 59 games in 2025-26. One year ago, they had the same record at the same point.
Which has been used to make the argument that the Rockets didn’t get better with Durant.
However, that actually undersells the point. Especially considering what all has happened to the Rockets, from a roster standpoint.
Their infrastructure has been shaken, due to injury. Fred VanVleet, Houston’s lone table-setter over the last two seasons, hasn’t played.
(Which we’ve heard endlessly, I know).
Houston has struggled to get into their sets. The pick-and-roll action (which seems to be the only offensive gameplan in Ime Udoka’s toolbelt) has been rather..meh. Amen Thompson has the will to fill that void but he doesn’t have the know-how.
Alperen Sengun has missed a handful of games (and has faded defensively). Tari Eason has missed 22 games.
Steven Adams’ loss might be the most pivotal across the league this season.
Jabari Smith Jr. has been very inconsistent throughout the season. Durant has been the only constant.
Even at 37-years-old. He ranks third in minutes per game and fourth in total minutes played.
He’s also bailed the Rockets out in a litany of offensive possessions, hitting shots with an insanely high degree of difficulty.
And has even had to take on a playmaking role (which hasn’t always been pretty, I agree).
But imagine if Houston didn’t make that trade. Jalen Green has missed most of the season.
When he has played, he’s flashed the same inconsistencies and/or hot-and-cold propensity. Dillon Brooks has certainly been missed this season, but he’s also benefited from having an ample amount of freedom to let it fly and chuck. He’s taking 17.4 shots per game, which is a career-high.
Yet and still, his efficiency has been….meh. 50.7 percent effective shooting (which is worse than either of his two seasons in Houston), and 54.7 true shooting (which is also worse than either of his two seasons with the Rockets, but almost identical to his first season with the Rockets in 2023-24).
Brooks wouldn’t have been able to replace (or even match) the production that we’ve seen from Durant this season.
This trade was a no-brainer. Even upon revisiting it.
Houston would be a lottery team without Adams, VanVleet, and Durant. And if you were to undo the trade and place Green back on the roster this season, they would’ve been without him too.
It’s also worth noting that Houston spent years seeking a closer, even with Green on the roster. Because he didn’t prove capable of being a consistent closer.
So even if they didn’t make the deal for Durant (which carried a lower than usual asking price), they would’ve still likely moved those pieces for someone else, eventually.