Rockets won offseason trade coming and going after latest injury news

As the Houston Rockets have climbed to a 6-3 record, their addition of superstar-caliber scorer Kevin Durant has already paid massive dividends, with their offense looking entirely reshaped through the earliest portions of the season.

At the same time, although many had qualms about the Rockets giving up their young shooting guard, Jalen Green, in the trade, his injury struggles so far with the Phoenix Suns have made the deal look even more lopsided in Houston's favor.

Through his first nine games, Durant has averaged 24.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists while becoming the go-to scorer the team has desperately needed in crunch time. Meanwhile, Green has only played in two games for Phoenix and is now set to miss additional time after he reaggravated his lingering hamstring injury.

Green, undoubtedly, is a dynamic young player, and it is right to wish him all the success in the world with his new franchise. Nevertheless, it is clear, through the first chunk of the season, that Houston has decidedly won the trade.

The Rockets don't ever need to look back with regret on their move for Kevin Durant

Although the Rockets soared to the second seed in the Western Conference last season, it quickly became clear, in their first-round defeat at the hands of the Golden State Warriors, that they were not where they needed to be on offense.

Accordingly, their move for Durant represented not only an acquisition of one of the most lethal scorers in the NBA, it was an aggressive bid to accelerate their timeline for championship contention.

So far, it has worked out swimmingly. In their recent win over the Milwaukee Bucks, Durant's skill-set was on full display, as he put up 22 points in the second half and helped lead the team to a pivotal victory despite the struggles their offense faced throughout the course of the game.

Green, meanwhile, looked solid in the one full game he has played for the Suns so far, posting 29 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the floor.

Phoenix, who will already be in the mix for play-in contention, will struggle to create the necessary spacing if they are missing half of their dynamic backcourt duo for an extended period of time, and, given the fact that they do not have outright control of their own first-round pick until 2032, this could be a disastrous development.

Therefore, while Green has never been a particularly injury-prone player, and will likely return to full health sooner rather than later, Houston can confidently say, as long as they are genuine championship contenders, that they have won the trade.