Devastating Kevin Durant weakness could be the beginning of the Rockets' downfall

As the Houston Rockets have settled at a 5-3 record after their first eight games, both the floor and the ceiling of their current offensive structure have been on full display, with the team both struggling in the absence of its primary facilitator and soaring with their addition of superstar-caliber scorer Kevin Durant.

Yet, one glaring weakness, the playmaking abilities of Kevin Durant, were on full display in their brutal NBA Cup loss to the ascendant San Antonio Spurs, and, although Durant is not expected to play a primary facilitational role on the team, his looseness with the ball could be a disastrous sign for a Rockets squad that will already struggle heavily in that area.

Through eight games, Durant is averaging 2.6 assists to three turnovers per game, and, in the absence of Fred VanVleet, the team will desperately need more reliable performances out of him in order to maintain their offensive viability.

Kevin Durant needs to be a more reliable ball-handler for this Rockets team to reach their ceiling

When VanVleet went down for the season, everyone knew immediately what a major blow it was to this Houston team.

Apart from losing their leader and primary facilitator, the team now has an utter lack of natural point guards, with Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard, each with their own deficiencies at the position, having taken on the role in VanVleet's absence.

While Sengun has excelled in his enhanced role as a playmaker, the team is still averaging the fourth-most turnovers in the NBA on a per-game basis, with games like their loss to the Spurs putting this glaring weakness on full display.

Against San Antonio, Durant amassed eight turnovers, looking careless with the ball on a significant amount of the possessions where he was the primary ball-handler throughout the course of the night.

Needless to say, this was a major reason why Houston ultimately lost such a pivotal game.

Throughout his career, Durant has never been a remarkably reliable ball-handler, having averaged at least three turnovers in seven of his last eight seasons. Nevertheless, the Rockets need everything they can get with VanVleet out, and, if Durant cannot be counted upon to make the right passes when it is needed, this offense will suffer tremendously.

Therefore, it goes without saying that, if this becomes a routine performance for Durant, opposing teams will have a much easier time exploiting the Rockets' lack of a point guard: a development that could potentially be disastrous for their championship hopes.