{"id":158780,"date":"2025-09-12T15:25:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T19:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=158780"},"modified":"2025-09-12T15:25:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T19:25:18","slug":"the-rockets-role-for-kevin-durant-will-make-fans-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/12\/the-rockets-role-for-kevin-durant-will-make-fans-happy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rockets\u2019 Role for Kevin Durant Will Make Fans Happy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Houston Rockets made one of the splashiest moves in the offseason, trading for Kevin Durant<\/a> to add him to their young core. After last year\u2019s successful run, finishing with the second seed in the crowded Western Conference, the Rockets knew they needed a bit more. Their first-round loss to the Golden State Warriors showed they need a bit more offense and a closer who can score in the last minutes of a tight game. But while many Rockets fans might think Durant will slow down the development of their young core, head coach Ime Udoka has a calming message about his role.<\/p>\n

The Rockets\u2019 Role for Kevin Durant Will Make Fans Happy<\/h2>\n

Durant is arguably one of the 15 best players in the history of the game. When you get a player like that, the initial reaction might be to model the offense to him. But the best part about KD\u2019s game is that he can fit on any team. He is such a seamless to integrate superstar. Unlike most stars, Durant doesn\u2019t need the ball to be effective. And according to Rockets head coach Ime Udoka, Durant doesn\u2019t wish to overshadow the young players and will play a different role. Speaking about the matter, Udoka said<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s his message to a lot of the young guys: Be who you are, continue to grow in those areas, and I\u2019ll fit in where we see necessary. He\u2019s a guy who doesn\u2019t want (us) to just lean on him. He wants to kind of be implemented into the group, and people not to take a backseat to him.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This should be great for Rockets fans, who love their young core of Alperen Sengun<\/a>, Amen Thompson<\/a>, Tari Eason<\/a>, and the rest of the guys. Throughout his career, Durant has shown an ability to adjust to new systems, like when he joined the Warriors.<\/p>\n

\"May
May 2, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Houston Rockets forward Amen Thompson (1) meets with Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka during a break in the action against the Golden State Warriors in the fourth quarter of game six of the first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Durant Can Fit Any System<\/h3>\n

Durant is often called the \u201cmost adjustable superstar.\u201d And that is true because he can fit on any team. During the Paris 2024 Olympics, Durant missed the preparation games and training camp. But when he joined the team for the first time, he fit in seamlessly and changed the course of the first game against Serbia. Speaking on the matter, Udoka said:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe things that he does on the court, offensively, are seamless. You can fit him into any system. You\u2019ve seen that wherever he\u2019s gone, even in the last few years. The efficiency, the numbers at an older age, he\u2019s still doing that at a very high level. So he\u2019ll fit in seamlessly with our guys. I think the attention that he draws will be beneficial to others. He\u2019s a guy you can lean on at times to close games, but a very unselfish player as well with a high IQ.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Entering his 18th year in the league, Durant will be one of the oldest players in the NBA. The last few seasons have not been as successful during his time with the Phoenix Suns. But the Rockets hope that KD will be the missing piece that will get them over the edge. They have the fifth-best championship odds<\/a> for next season.<\/p>\n

Sengun Is Ready to Be the Main Guy<\/h3>\n

The Houston Rockets should be happy with how the FIBA EuroBasket 2025<\/a> is going. Sengun has led Turkey to the medal rounds, and he is showing an ability to be the main player on a title-team. In the game against Serbia, he managed to use his advantages against Nikola Jokic<\/a>, outplaying the three-time MVP.<\/p>\n

And the best part is that Sengun is learning how to be a facilitator as much as an offensive player<\/a>. He can be a great hub for running the offense. With Sengun making plays for his teammates, the Rockets can use a balanced attack and have KD ready to close games when necessary. Durant is among the best closers in the game and a guy who has a career average of more than 50% shooting from the floor.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Troy Taormina-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Houston Rockets made one of the splashiest moves in the offseason, trading for Kevin Durant to add him to their young core. After last year\u2019s successful run, finishing with the second seed in the crowded Western Conference, the Rockets knew they needed a bit more. Their first-round loss to the Golden State Warriors showed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5291,"featured_media":158814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,31,62,3],"tags":[4293,3821,69],"class_list":["post-158780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-rockets","category-nba","category-news","tag-alperen-sengun","tag-ime-udoka","tag-kevin-durant"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5291"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158780"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":158817,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158780\/revisions\/158817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}