Kevin Durant takes surprising jab at new Rockets teammate

The Houston Rockets have added some significant players this summer.

Clearly, Kevin Durant stands above them all. One of the best scorers in NBA history, Durant should revolutionize the Rockets' title odds in 2025-26.

He's not the only meaningful addition. The Rockets reunited with Clint Capela to add arguably the best third-string big in the NBA. The addition of Dorian Finney-Smith was also huge. He's among the best 3-and-D wings in the NBA.

It seems that's not good enough for Durant.

New Rockets star takes jab at his teammate

Durant just made an appearance on LeBron James' Mind the Game podcast. He didn't pull any punches.

"Two seconds on the clock and we're giving it to, no disrespect, Dorian Finney-Smith with two seconds on the clock to make a three."

-Kevin Durant

Yikes. That's rough. It would be more palpable if Durant weren't about to join Finney-Smith on the Rockets.

Does he have a point?

Durant was having a candid conversation

Sure.

It would have been ideal if Durant had named someone else. He used Royce O'Neale as another example. Ideally, he'd have left it there. The odds that Durant will play with O'Neale again are slim.

That said, Durant wasn't necessarily trying to be hurtful. Contextually, the guys were having a candid discussion about NBA offense. Durant was saying that a shot from a role player is a good shot early in the clock, but once the clock wears down, a team should be looking to feed their star players.

In fairness, this was a critique that some had about the Finney-Smith signing: He's not a shot creator. Finney-Smith is a play finisher. A good shot from him is going to come when a star teammate has created space for him to fire.

There's nothing wrong with that. Durant is one of those space-creating stars, and he knows it. It would be beneficial if both Durant and Finney-Smith had a clear understanding of how the Rockets' offensive hierarchy should be structured.

Best of all, they each likely do. Rockets fans won't see Finney-Smith try to commadeer possessions for his own benefit. He understands his role. Finney-Smith is a high-end defender who plays with effort and shoots open threes.

So, he's likely to take Durant's comments with a grain of salt. This shouldn't harm the chemistry between the Rockets' two newest wings. Still, it would have been nice if Durant had just stuck with O'Neale:

If nothing else, Durant and Finney-Smith are due for a conversation at training camp.