Rockets answer burning 30-year-old question with bold Kevin Durant heist

With their trade for Kevin Durant, the time for the Houston Rockets to compete for a championship is right now. For the first time in 30 years, they seem ready to go for it. Even during the James Harden era, they were staring the historic Golden State Warriors roster in the face, making a title run extremely difficult. Now, they are ready to go for it in a league with as much parity as ever.

They still have one of the most promising young cores in the NBA, despite trading Jalen Green, but considering Durant is going to be 37 years old for all of next season, the Rockets need to focus on winning immediately.

Durant is entering the final few years of his career and only has a few seasons left to win a title. The Rockets are very well equipped to win right now, but they need to focus on rounding out their roster as best as possible from here on out.

What will Rockets look like with Kevin Durant?

Houston gave up Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 pick in this year’s draft, and five second-round picks in the trade, but they still have most of their core from last season on the roster.

If they manage to bring back Fred VanVleet, the Rockets can roll out a starting lineup of VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Durant, Tari Eason, and Alperen Sengun. After that, they still have Jabari Smith Jr., Cam Whitmore, and Steven Adams, and others off the bench.

They will need to add some more guards to the roster, but they could also hope that Reed Sheppard takes another step in the right direction next season.

What should Rockets add to compete with Kevin Durant?

In order to compete at the highest level, especially in the Western Conference, the Rockets still have a few changes they should look to make heading into next year.

Bringing in extra guards is now a top priority. Sheppard is a fine player, but if the Rockets hope to gun for a championship right now, they should bring in some more solidified talent.

On top of that, they need to add more three-point shooting to the rotation. They have a bunch of guys who are decent marksmen from distance, but nobody who is the epitome of consistent.

There could be some interesting options for them to target in free agency, such as Malik Beasley and Seth Curry, depending on how much they are asking for on the open market and what their priorities are.

Regardless, trading for Durant points the Rockets in a clear direction: Win right now.