This Rockets star stands to benefit the most from addition of Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant will wear a Houston Rockets jersey in 2025-26.

As the dust settles, it's still hard to believe. The seemingly endless discourse around Jalen Green's potential will be for a different fan base to deal with. Questions about who the Rockets can turn to when they need a bucket will cease. Whether Green meets his potential or not, they'll be turning to Durant.

Now, the question is how the team's remaining young core will respond to Durant's presence. Everyone should benefit. It's hard to think of a more natural mentor for Jabari Smith Jr. than Durant. Amen Thompson will benefit immensely from his three-point gravity.

But one of the Rockets' young guns should benefit more than anyone else.

Rockets' star big should gel with Durant

Smith Jr. is a role player. Thompson is a bit harder to pin down, but part of his stardom is his defensive virtuosity. There's one remaining young Rocket who should have a substantial offensive role in 2025-26, and it's Alperen Sengun.

The Turkish sensation had an odd 2024-25 season. Formerly a defensive liability, Sengun made a massive leap on that side of the ball. His quick hands and strong instincts allowed him to thrive in the middle of Ime Udoka's zone defense.

Unfortunately, that leap seemed to coincide with a decline in offensive efficiency. Sengun's 54.5 True Shooting % (TS%) was a career low by a long shot. So was his 51.9% shooting on two-point field goal attempts.

There are a couple of explanations for his waning efficiency. Some have posited that Sengun struggled to balance offense and defense. That's possible, but it's more likely that opposing defenses simply figured Sengun - and the Rockets - out.

Without a reliable perimeter creator, it was easy for defenses to converge on Sengun. It was more difficult for him to pass out of aggressive coverages without reliable shooting around him. Durant should fix those issues:

And Sengun's efficiency should spike as a result.

Rockets form new offensive tandem

That said, there should be a mutual benefit. Durant has never played with a playmaking big like Sengun. His interior gravity should open up the perimeter for Sengun.

Still, Sengun stands to benefit the most. Defenders won't be able to key in on him as easily with Durant hovering around the three-point line. Sengun should get more opportunities to score in single coverage in 2025-26:

One of his teammates will be Kevin Durant.