Rockets still have glaring offensive weakness after adding Kevin Durant

The Houston Rockets are expected to be one of the best teams in the NBA in 2025-26. Unfortunately, they'll still have a glaring weakness in pick-and-roll offense.

This was a problem last year. The Rockets had one of the worst pick-and-roll offenses in the NBA during the 2024-25 season. Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor recently pointed that out.

"This team was bottom 10 in the NBA in pick-and-roll scoring efficiency. If you look at the other teams in the bottom 10, (it's) a lot of bad teams and bad offenses."

- Kevin O'Connor, Yahoo Sports

He's not wrong. The Rockets were 23rd in the NBA in Points Per Possession (PPP) generated in pick-and-roll sets at 0.93 PPP. No question, acquiring Kevin Durant is going to substantially improve their offense:

But it won't do much in this specific area.

Rockets have one hole in their offensive armor

Durant will run some pick-and-roll. He had a 15.9% pick-and-roll frequency in 2025-26. By contrast, his teammate Devin Booker had a 30.1% frequency.

Durant has never been a primary ball-handler. He's a primary shot creator, but he's most effective in isolation. Again, he should vastly improve the offense, but not in this particular way.

Meanwhile, the Rockets were 18th in PPP when the ball-handler finished a pick-and-roll, and 29th when the roll man finished. This was a generally anemic pick-and-roll team, and the offensive star they acquired this summer barely runs pick-and-roll.

What can they do about it?

Rockets will find a way to score

Here's one simple solution: Don't run a lot of pick-and-roll.

NBA offense isn't a one-size-fits-all endeavor. The Rockets will have other ways to score. They can look to run more hand-off sets with Alperen Sengun as a hub. They can find Durant in isolation. The team can make this work.

Last year, the Rockets' 114.9 Offensive Rating ranked 12th in the league. There's a perception that the offense was poor, but that's more of an aesthetic judgment than a functional one. The Rockets' attack was ugly, but it was effective enough. The team's dominant offensive rebounding was essential to their overall offensive approach.

That doesn't have to change in 2025-26. If anything, the Rockets' roster has improved from a rebounding perspective. By virtue of plugging Durant into Jalen Green's role alone, they'll improve.

That's not to say this couldn't be an issue. The less holes a team has in their armor, the better. If the Rockets' offense stalls in next year's playoffs, it'd be ideal if they could switch to a pick-and-roll focused attack. Instead, they'll have to make do with what they have:

Even the best teams in the league usually have a weakness.