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[Houston Rockets]

Rockets 2025-2026 NBA player previews: Kevin Durant

As we sit on the precipice of the 2025-2026 NBA season, our Player Preview series continues with the man who has Houston Rockets fans having visions of downtown parades dance in their heads, Kevin Durant. In a previous preview I stated that Reed Sheppard might be the most important Rockets player this season, as they search for a floor general they can trust in the absence of Fred VanVleet. While I stand by that sentiment, there is no doubt that Kevin Durant will be the most valuable man on the roster. Why so?

If the answer isn’t obvious… HE’S KEVIN DURANT! You know who he is. 30,571 points and counting. Baring something catastrophic, we will witness Durant pass Wilt Chamberlain, Dirk Nowitzki, and Michael Jeffery Jordan in total points scored. Meaning by seasons end, if all goes well, then only four, count them… four NBA players will have scored more points in NBA history, and if that happens, I can certainly guarantee that the Rockets will have won some games along the way.

How many games will they have won? That’s to be determined but Kevin Durant has already shown his value to this team, be it in a short sample size of the pre-season. In the preseason the Rockets averaged 130.8 points-per-game and 27.5 assists per game, which was good enough for 1st and 10th respectively. They shot 37.5 percent from the three-point line, the fourth-best in the preseason. If you think that doesn’t matter, I’ll remind you that the Rockets were 19th out of 30 teams last pre-season and they finished 21st at the end of the year.

While credit must be given to the coaches and the improvement of Alperen Sengun, who looks poised to have another All-Star season, and Amen Thompson is the odds-on favorite to win the Most Improved Player Award at +900, Kevin Durant on the floor changes everything. Alpie won’t see nearly as many double-teams when he’s on the floor with Durant, and with the spacing Durant provides Amen Thompson can have a field day driving down a wide-open lane or collapsing the paint and kicking it out to an open shooter. Even without Fred VanVleet, Kevin Durant’s presence on this team not only makes the players around him better, but it inspires hope for the fans.

Looming heavily over all of that optimism, is the concerns about health. No way to sugar coat it, Kevin Durant has played 70 games or more once in the last five seasons, and he’s only played more than 50 games twice. That has to be a concern. It is for me and for Rockets fans. For the Rockets brass? Well, as I type this article It came across my “X” feed that the Rockets have given Kevin Durant a 2-year $90 million contract extension. Given that he was eligible for a max $120 million extension, I’d say the Rockets played this smart. Even if disaster strikes, the Rockets team building flexibility won’t be completely wiped away, but why even put that Juju out there. It’ll be fine!

Durant was eligible for a max extension of $120M, but understood when he chose the Rockets as a trade destination that he'd be sacrificing money – in this case around $30M less – so that the sides can partner for the long term and give the franchise team-building flexibility. https://t.co/ggH5xvT6mA

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 19, 2025

If all goes well, for the next two seasons at least the Rockets will be able to count on Kevin Durant’s 25+ points per game, 50-percent shooting from the field, 40- percent shooting from the three-point line, and 85+ percent shooting from the free-throw line. Hopefully, what that will mean is games won, top four playoff positioning, and lots of postseason success. That hope is what makes this the most anticipated NBA season for Rockets fans since the sign-and-trade that brought Chris Paul to Houston. May our fingers stay crossed, and our hamstrings remain stretched in the pursuit of a much happier ending to the Kevin Durant era of Houston Rockets basketball.

Kevin Durant is a two-time champion, two-time NBA Finals MVP, and one of the 75 greatest players to ever pick up a basketball. He has nothing to prove to anyone. However, on October 21st he will witness the franchise that drafted him hang their very first championship banner in the rafters of the house that he, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Serge Ibaka built, and he will do so with his former Sonics / Thunder teammate and fellow draft-mate Jeff Green by his side again. What an incredible full circle moment, and my hope is that perhaps that professional pride that has burned in his chest his entire career, is given just enough extra fuel to push him to want to be the one hanging his own banner this time next year in Toyota Center.

Source: https://www.thedreamshake.com/houst...men-thompson-reed-sheppard-contract-extension

 

[Houston Rockets]

Rockets Fall To Pistons 115-111 To Go 0-2 On The Season

If the OKC game was exciting, frustrating and encouraging in equal measure, this game was pure frustration. The Rockets have started the year playing two “Can’t Call ‘Em All” defenses, though Detroit is actually a more extreme version. An average Sengun or Amen game is a Rockets win. They had something considerably worse. Tonight’s reverse beauty pageant saw the Rockets shoot a whopping 48 free throws in a game that ended in regulation time. They made 37 of them, so that’s a positive to take away.

The negatives to take away were that several Rockets just had fairly awful games overall, and particularly on offense. They were, in no particular order, Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, Reed Sheppard, to a lesser extent Jabari Smith.

Keven Durant, despite some awkwardness on offense did NOT have a bad game. He did exactly what he was brought in to do. Durant played only 28 minutes. He scored 37 points on 9-18 shooting and 16-18 free throws. Josh Okogie also had a good game.

A couple of Rockets concepts also had bad games. One was the double big lineup. The other was constant zone defense. When the Rockets play double bigs they expect to control the paint and to win the rebounding battle decisively. They did neither. They barely edged Detroit on the offensive glass, despite Jalen Durren getting ejected early on, and Isaiah Stewart fouling out. The Pistons were also perfectly prepared to exploit the zone, and did so successfully, heading into the heart of it for easy looks or passes. If we see more such preparation the Rockets should probably do what they’ve built their roster to do – one big, Sengun, and a bunch of wings.

Another concept that took a hit is “No guards.” Whatever your assessment of Reed Sheppard, the Rockets desperately need someone, anyone, to organize the offense and be able to do guard things. Tonight he really didn’t do that. He took ill advised shots, and missed. He took some advised shots and missed. He made some good passes, that lead to misses. He was a target on defense, and he is going to be, and he literally has to be, given the other players. He’s going to have to learn to deal with it, and it’s going to be a baptism of fire. When the game came to him, on open three pointers, he cashed them. It’s not all bad, and he’s far from the only Rocket to look slightly awful tonight.

The only way out for Reed and the Rockets is through, as there isn’t really an alternative, and again, the Rockets desperately require some guard play. Things you don’t notice guards doing, don’t get done. For example, someone coming back for an inbounds pass, or going to help get the ball from a Rocket who has gone to the ground. That’s not what forwards do, and so far, that’s nothing something Amen Thompson does.

That’s guard stuff, and right now, no one does it. A player who did all those little things almost flawlessly was Fred VanVleet (some bigger things, not as well). They also miss Fred’s general game awareness and being the signal caller for the defense. No one is really doing it, and it shows. Reed can’t do this because he’s just not experienced enough. Fred VanVleet was still in college at Reeds age, his first season was age 22, which will be Reed’s third, and his age 22 year was nothing to write home about.

Sengun’s utter brilliance in OKC was contrasted by a stinker in this one. He went 5-18 overall. He missed easy shot, and he pressed himself into bad shots with a defense swarming around him. I don’t really fault players for missing good shots, but that’s generally not what happened here. He missed bad shots and ill advised attempts. Because he’s still a star, he had 7 boards, 7 assists and 3 steals. One problem we’re seeing is that the Sengun who was the hub for Turkey in EuroBasket didn’t do his work from the three point line. He initiated closer to the basket, so that he can be a dual threat to score or pass. He didn’t have to drive so much into a set defense to get shots. The problem with this is – who will get the entry pass to him to set up there?

Amen Thompson had a similarly bad night, both on offense and defense. He went to the line a lot, but that’s kind of a win for the opponent. He didn’t defend well, and recorded no steals or blocks. He doesn’t seem to recognize mismatches where he should just drive and cook his opponent. This was especially evident late, when Detroits bigs had fouled out, and he had the large, but much slower, Cade Cunningham defending him, and wouldn’t simply attack, despite lots of space to do it.

Tari Eason was fine. He wasn’t really a problem, and he wasn’t really an asset. Josh Okogie was good.

If I have two major concerns after tonight here they are.

One. The offensive scheme. The same old stuff from last season will not work. There aren’t any guards. Tonight the Rockets could have really, truly, used a Jalen Green dribble, dribble, drive and score or offensive rebound. I don’t miss Jalen, but it’s very easy to clog up the Rockets already nearly moribund offensive actions with no real initiators on the court. (Amen is going to have to do something besides pass on the move to get a “PG” rating for me.) They need to find ways to get easier looks. Yes, Durant can gouge out points from nothing, but so far, that’s not enough. The Rockets need to get creative. On offense. This may not be possible for an Ime Udoka team, which puts a real ceiling on how good he is.

They need to shoot more threes. Detroit shot 39 threes, and made 16 of them, for 41%. The Rockets shot only 22, and while they made 10, that’s just too much trading 2 for 3.

The Rockets didn’t start out well last season, and they have much more to work out right now. It’s not time to panic, as a few wins cure a lot of problems. The things that the Rockets aren’t doing can all be ironed out, and players can grow and improve in new roles, or just generally grow and improve. But it won’t happen quickly. We all need to be prepared to have a bit of patience. Like it or not, it’s what’s on the menu.

Source: https://www.thedreamshake.com/rocke...ll-to-pistons-115-111-to-go-0-2-on-the-season

 

[Houston Rockets]

Rockets Open At Home Versus Detroit Pistons

A Thompson.

Houston Rockets vs Detroit Pistons​

October 24, 2025 @ 7pm CST​

Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas

TV: Space City Home Network

Online: Rockets App

Gametime:7 PM CST

Probable Starting Lineups​

Rockets: A. Thompson, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun, Steven Adams

Pistons: Cade Cunningham, Duncan Idaho, A. Thompson, Toby Harris, Jalen Durren

A battle of brothers. A house divided. A basketball game.

Go Rockets.

Commence to commenting below.

Source: https://www.thedreamshake.com/rockets-game-threads/36372/rockets-open-at-home-versus-detroit-pistons