Rockets 2025-2026 season in review: Kevin Durant

“The Rockets are realistic championship contenders after this trade – and that’s the whole reason the deal happened.” – Tim McMahon

“This elevates them to championship contention… Wouldn’t surprise me at all to see them in the Western Conference Finals… The Houston Rockets are instant title contenders.” – Stephen A. Smith

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“When you put Kevin Durant on any basketball team, immediately they become right into the mix of contenders.” – Kenny Smith

These were just some of the national media reactions to the Houston Rockets acquiring Kevin Durant in a “blockbuster” trade with the Phoenix Suns last summer. The reactions weren’t surprising, as many of them had been clamoring for the deal from the moment the Rockets were eliminated by Golden State in Round 1 of the 2025 playoffs. However one writer, from a humble but legendary blog in its own right, was far less enthusiastic of the prospect of trading away the leading scorer and the defensive heartbeat of a 52-win team that had just increased its win total from the previous season by 19 games, only to lose to a far more experienced team in playoffs.

“Kevin Durant is no doubt one of the greatest scorers the game has ever seen, and even at the age of 37, he can still get it done. But he is 37, and in the last three seasons, he has missed 62 total games due to injury. Kevin Durant going to a team that will depend on his availability in order to compete for a championship likely will suffer the fate of… well the Phoenix Suns…. Keep in mind that whoever trades for Kevin Durant will also have to give a contract extension … Paying a nearly 40-year-old Kevin Durant $60 million… These are the types of moves only bad teams make.” – Nick Stevenson

To be fair, the Rockets extension of Kevin Durant ended up being an average of $45-million per year, which under the circumstances was a very prudent move by them. So, in that regard, I was wrong. The argument could be made I was wrong about the risk of Kevin Durant’s injury history… until I wasn’t.

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At the age of 37, Kevin Durant played in 78 regular season…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/rockets-2025-2026-season-review-100605458.html

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Publish date : 2026-05-27 10:06:00

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