Rockets Not Likely to Move Kevin Durant this Offseason

The Houston Rockets' debut season with Kevin Durant didn't quite go as planned, as the Rockets' infrastructure on the court looked much different than how they envisioned it at the time of the deal. For starters, Durant was asked to get the Rockets into their offensive sets quite regularly, which isn't exactly Durant's strength.

He's certainly not a point guard. However, the absence to Fred VanVleet prompted the Rockets to assemble a hodgepodge at the position. 

Durant is a guarantee to be named to one of the league's All-NBA teams and made the All-Star team this season, with averages of 26 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 52 percent from the field, 41.3 percent, 87.4 percent from the foul line, 58.8 percent effective shooting and 64.1 percent true shooting. 

The Rockets went 52-30 and finished with the fifth seed in the Western Conference, matching last season's record. However, it wasn't exactly all rosy on the Durant front. Especially according to outsiders. Durant's burner account situation on social media added fuel to the fire.

Especially since he has a prior history of using burner accounts. And especially since Durant didn't shut down the speculation when presented with the opportunity. 

That same faction of people that believe there were issues with the team internally seemed validated, in a way, when Durant decided against sitting with the team during Game 3 of Houston’s opening round postseason series against the Los Angeles Lakers while missing the game due to injury. 

We've seen speculation that Durant could also be moved. However, Sam Amick of The Athletic casted doubt on the likelihood of Durant getting traded by Houston, during his most recent appearance on Run it Back.

"I have not gotten any indication that that's in the cards. I mean, listen, this is the time of year where every team has gotta unpack what they weren't able to accomplish. There was a ton of frustration with that Rockets group, with how they finished. It's funny cause when they did the Kevin move, they obviously shortened the runway, when it comes to their group. 

So now it's a tricky fork in the road, right? Where, do you double down and go chase another star? They have the assets where they can put a good package together for a Giannis or a Kawhi Leonard. The messaging coming out of that playoff series was they still believe in that young group and we're gonna work around the edges.

I don't see Kevin moving but we'll see where that goes. He's got one year left before an option year. I mean, he didn't play four or five games in that series. So we didn't really see what they were in the end."

It seems more likely that Houston will add another star to help Durant this summer and maximize their remaining two years with him in the fold. Which would be wise, because you can't assume another year of full health for Durant, although he did eventually get injured during the playoffs. 

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