The Rockets and Kevin Durant may discover themselves at a crossroads -

When the Phoenix Suns traded Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets final offseason, the expectation was that this might be Durant’s final NBA cease. He was considered because the lacking piece for a younger Rockets squad, giving them a high-level scorer that would open up their offense.

Nevertheless, final yr was a rocky one for Houston. They began off the season scorching and regarded like a reliable championship contender. They faltered in the direction of the second half of the season and had a tumultuous publish All-Star break stretch that included rumors of a fractured locker room. This was as a consequence of an alleged burner account that was ran by Durant, trashing his teammates.

The Rockets by no means actually recovered from that, whether or not it was truly Durant’s or not. They went down 3-0 to a really wounded Lakers workforce within the first spherical and whereas Durant didn’t play for many of that collection, it was a disappointing finish to the yr. It could result in a situation that nobody actually noticed coming.

Houston and Durant could also be heading for a faster breakup than anticipated

There have been rumblings in regards to the Rockets wanting into making main strikes with their roster, however they weren’t in on the Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jaylen Brown sweepstakes, so main strikes probably received’t be taking place.

Moreover, if the workforce isn’t capable of shake off the dangerous vibes from the second half of final yr and get off to a sluggish tart, the rumblings will solely persist, and it may result in Durant getting much more annoyed.

We have now seen this film with Durant earlier than. In Golden State, he acquired into it with Draymond Inexperienced, and it led to awkward vibes for the remainder of the yr and Durant left the next summer time. In Brooklyn, he acquired disgruntled, and compelled his solution to Phoenix.

With the Suns, he was by no means capable of construct a severe rapport with Devin Booker and Bradley Beal and there have been experiences of Durant being distant from the workforce. The purpose is that this can be a theme with Durant and it tends to harm groups greater than assist.

That’s no knock on him as a participant. He’s nonetheless extraordinarily productive and among the finest gamers within the sport. He’s an all-time nice and impacts successful at an especially excessive degree. However, he and the Rockets do have to do some soul looking in the event that they wish to contend subsequent yr. Which means some powerful conversations with management and teammates, in any other case it may result in Durant forcing his method off one more squad.