Kevin Durant 25-26 Thread

TroubleS0me · Post #1 » by **TroubleS0me** » Mon Sep 29, 2025 8:39 pm

[*]a four-time scoring champion,
[*]eighth leading scorer in NBA history,
[*]15-time All-Star,
[*]two-time Finals MVP
[*]2014 MVP.

After stops in Brooklyn and Phoenix following his two title runs in Golden State, can Houston be the place where Durant returns to the championship stage, leading a young Rockets squad to their first Finals appearance in over three decades?

Caneman786 · Post #2 » by **Caneman786** » Mon Sep 29, 2025 9:34 pm

This is gonna be bad!

eminence · Post #3 » by **eminence** » Mon Sep 29, 2025 9:36 pm

Do we mean the Sengun thread?

TroubleS0me · Post #4 » by **TroubleS0me** » Mon Sep 29, 2025 10:47 pm

eminence wrote:Do we mean the Sengun thread?

yes he's included too

TroubleS0me · Post #5 » by **TroubleS0me** » Mon Sep 29, 2025 10:47 pm

Caneman786 wrote:This is gonna be bad!

why?

Caneman786 · Post #6 » by **Caneman786** » Mon Sep 29, 2025 10:53 pm

TroubleS0me wrote:
Caneman786 wrote:This is gonna be bad!

why?

It's Katie.

He's gonna mess the chemistry all up.

jalengreen · Post #7 » by **jalengreen** » Mon Sep 29, 2025 10:57 pm

Nice season for Sengun, but ultimately seeing him attempt to self-create offense in crucial moments against Golden State was disgusting. Draymond had him in hell. Seeing KD take shots instead of that hook shot from Sengun will be blessing. FVV injury is brutal though with how their guard position already looked

Post #8 » by **tsherkin** » Tue Sep 30, 2025 2:13 pm

The obvious answer here was "no," even before the FVV injury.

MoreyWins · Post #9 » by **MoreyWins** » Wed Oct 1, 2025 7:01 am

Caneman786 wrote:
TroubleS0me wrote:
Caneman786 wrote:This is gonna be bad!

why?

It's Katie.

He's gonna mess the chemistry all up.

How? He has prior relationships with half the staff and most of the roster. Kevin is the exact shot maker and lead perimeter creator the Rockets patiently waited for Jalen to turn into.

eminence · Post #10 » by **eminence** » Wed Oct 1, 2025 1:02 pm

I was being a bit flippant, but this is more a *Rockets* thread than a KD thread.

The season will be about the young guys developing and what they can turn into, KD is a supporting piece at this point, not 'the guy'. They are going where Thompson/Sengun can take them.

Guard rotation was weak prior to FVV going down. Maybe the only team in the league with excess 3/D forwards.

2 seed was a bit of an overperformance last year, but I see them competing for homecourt in the 1st round again.

TroubleS0me · Post #11 » by **TroubleS0me** » Thu Oct 2, 2025 3:37 am

eminence wrote:I was being a bit flippant, but this is more a *Rockets* thread than a KD thread.

The season will be about the young guys developing and what they can turn into, KD is a supporting piece at this point, not 'the guy'. They are going where Thompson/Sengun can take them.

Guard rotation was weak prior to FVV going down. Maybe the only team in the league with excess 3/D forwards.

2 seed was a bit of an overperformance last year, but I see them competing for homecourt in the 1st round again.

Yea this is mostly a KD thread but other players from the Rockets will be mentioned from time to time. They are part of KD 's success.

jalengreen · Post #12 » by **jalengreen** » Thu Oct 2, 2025 4:04 am

eminence wrote:I was being a bit flippant, but this is more a *Rockets* thread than a KD thread.

The season will be about the young guys developing and what they can turn into, KD is a supporting piece at this point, not 'the guy'. They are going where Thompson/Sengun can take them.

Guard rotation was weak prior to FVV going down. Maybe the only team in the league with excess 3/D forwards.

2 seed was a bit of an overperformance last year, but I see them competing for homecourt in the 1st round again.

When you say supporting piece and not the guy, are you expecting him to not be the clear leading scorer? Seems like he'll pretty clearly dominate the shot volume and put up his ~26 PPG barring a very sudden dropoff. Or are you just saying that on a championship roster, he'd have to be a supporting piece

eminence · Post #13 » by **eminence** » Thu Oct 2, 2025 12:12 pm

jalengreen wrote:
eminence wrote:I was being a bit flippant, but this is more a *Rockets* thread than a KD thread.

The season will be about the young guys developing and what they can turn into, KD is a supporting piece at this point, not 'the guy'. They are going where Thompson/Sengun can take them.

Guard rotation was weak prior to FVV going down. Maybe the only team in the league with excess 3/D forwards.

2 seed was a bit of an overperformance last year, but I see them competing for homecourt in the 1st round again.

When you say supporting piece and not the guy, are you expecting him to not be the clear leading scorer? Seems like he'll pretty clearly dominate the shot volume and put up his ~26 PPG barring a very sudden dropoff. Or are you just saying that on a championship roster, he'd have to be a supporting piece

I do expect him to be the leading scorer (around 25, Sengun around 20).

But Sengun will be clearly their best player (if he's not and falls back below KD they'll be a play-in squad). If they contend it'll be because Thompson makes the jump above Durant as well.

KD is understandably in decline and is a contending teams #3 at this point, fringe all-star player.