Former NBA star says the quiet part out loud about the Rockets and Kevin Durant

As the Houston Rockets enter the 2025-26 NBA season, undeniably their biggest and most exciting storyline comes in the form of the arrival of superstar scorer Kevin Durant: an acquisition that has the potential to transform the team into a bona-fide championship contender on both sides of the ball.

Yet, as former NBA star Iman Shumpert has pointed out, it remains to be seen how the entire team will conform around the touches that Durant will demand and the gravity that he will create, and, while Durant's acquisition projects to be a serious boost for the roster, there will certainly need to be a period of adjustment.

As the Rockets earned the second seed in the Western Conference last season, they did so on the shoulders of the hard-nosed, defensive identity that head coach Ime Udoka had worked tirelessly to cultivate. While trading for Durant was ultimately the right move, the team will need time to discover its new identity.

Kevin Durant and the Rockets will need time to get comfortable with each other

Durant, who is still one of the most effective scorers in the NBA, certainly has the potential to turn Houston's offense into a top-five unit. Last season, through 62 games, Durant averaged 26.6 points, six rebounds and 4.2 assists, shooting 43% from beyond the arc and earning 15th selection to the All-Star Game.

Yet, on the most recent episode of the Out the Mud podcast, Shumpert, featuring as a special guest, reflected the same questions that might be lying dormant in the hearts of many Rockets fans: "
I need to see Houston. I ain't going to lie. I need to see them early on to see if they got what it takes because the problem is when a superstar is added to a team already... you definitely have to alter how you play..."

Houston, in acquiring Durant, sacrificed relatively little value, giving up only Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and the first-round draft pick that ultimately turned into Khaman Maluach. Yet, while almost every single NBA front office would make this move if given the chance, the team did lose two starters in the process, and, now, they must figure out what players will take on new roles.

Alperen Sengun, operating as the team's offensive hub, must learn to get the ball to Durant in his spots, perhaps leaning a bit less on his dominance in the paint and becoming an even more capable playmaker in the process. Amen Thompson will likely slide back to the shooting guard spot, and he will need to get a handle on the perimeter defensive duties that the position will require of him.

Even the team's role players, such as Aaron Holiday and Reed Sheppard, will need to conform to new sets of minutes and renewed responsibilities as the team has sacrificed some of its depth in the backcourt.

Therefore, while Durant's arrival to Houston projects to be one of the most exciting storylines to follow in the NBA this season, Shumpert has a serious point in having concerns about how the team will conform to such a change of pace.