Rockets can kill next offseason before it even starts with Kevin Durant extension

As the Houston Rockets enter the 2025-26 NBA season, a relatively slow offseason across the league has, conversely, netted the team huge results, with their blockbuster acquisition of Kevin Durant having the potential to launch this team squarely into championship contention.

Yet, the fact that Durant, at 37 years old, is entering the final year of the four-year, $194 million deal he originally signed with the Brooklyn Nets remains a major point of uncertainty not only for the Rockets but across the league as a whole, and the excitement surrounding next offseason could hinge on the organization's ability to get an extension done.

While there is of course no guarantee, the prevailing feeling around the Rockets is that Durant will sign an extension, especially if the team continues their success this season, thus effectively guaranteeing another limited offseason for much of the league in 2026.

Taking Kevin Durant off the market could kill next offseason for the rest of the league

When Houston pulled the trigger on the Durant trade, they knew that they were making a decisively win-now move, and they decided that accepting the risk of taking on a superstar with only one year remaining under contract was worth it in exchange for the drastic boon he brings to their chances at contention.

According to William Guillory of The Athletic, the team is now looking to lock down young forward Tari Eason, who is approaching the final year of his rookie deal, long-term before turning to a Durant extension. Moreover, Guillory also reports, there is a relative confidence that these deals will be done in the coming weeks.

Undoubtedly, Durant is the big fish as it stands on the 2026 NBA free agent market. Lebron James will also be an unrestricted free agent assuming neither his nor the Los Angeles Lakers' stances on their relationship change, but it is likely that, if he chooses to continue his career with another organization, it will be for more of a curtain call than a serious championship run.

Zach Lavine, Trae Young and James Harden all have player options to exercise after this season, and Young's case in particular is interesting, but, in the new landscape of the NBA where stars are extended or traded before they reach free agency, it is unlikely that these guys will see the open market.

For the more middle-of-the-road NBA players, next offseason will be an interesting watch. Anfernee Simons, Rui Hachimura, Norman Powell and Collin Sexton will all be unrestricted free agents, and watching how the league values them in an offseason that is projected to have more financial flexibility ought to be intriguing.

Yet, if the Rockets are able to take Durant off the board as early as the next couple of months, the next NBA offseason could come close to being as boring as this one has been for the other 29 teams across the league.