How the arrival of Kevin Durant is accelerating a young core’s leap to contender status.
The Houston Rockets have opened the 2025-26 season at 10-3, and that record says plenty about the shift underway inside the franchise. This is no longer a rebuilding project. This is a team stepping into a new stage, and Kevin Durant is the force making that jump possible.
Durant arrived in Houston with the credentials of a future Hall of Famer and the mindset of someone who understands exactly what a young roster needs. He stepped into a room filled with potential rather than pressure. Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson already formed one of the league’s most intriguing young cores. Sengun is a playmaker with size and touch. Smith brings length and defensive range. Thompson gives the Rockets burst, rim pressure and defensive energy few guards his age can match. All three had shown promise. None had the late-game polish or shot-making gravity that Durant brings with him.
The fit was immediate. Durant doesn’t push the Rockets into a different identity. He sharpens what was already working. When he’s on the floor, the offense settles. Defenders shade toward him, and that tilt opens the kinds of passing angles and driving lanes that make Sengun and Thompson thrive. Smith gets clearer catch-and-shoot space because opposing forwards can’t afford to help off Durant for even a second.
The Rockets’ 10-3 start reflects that balance. They play with more pace, but also with more control. Possessions no longer wander late in the clock. Someone always has an answer. For a young team trying to learn how to close quarters and finish games, that stability matters more than any highlight.
Durant’s value isn’t limited to offense. His leadership—steady, direct and shaped by playoff miles—sets a tone that young players can follow. Thompson has already benefited from that presence. Instead of forcing the action, he’s picking better spots, defending with more discipline and showing more patience reading screens. Sengun’s passing has more purpose because the defense bends in predictable ways when Durant is on the court. Smith looks more confident in catch-and-shoot moments, knowing he’ll get consistent, clean looks generated by the flow instead of chaos.
This is the version of the Rockets the front office envisioned: young legs fueled by star gravity, guided by a coaching staff that trusts everyone to play their role. Ime Udoka has leaned into Durant’s ability to steady things without overshadowing his teammates. The rotations feel cleaner. The spacing is sharper. The late-game identity is clearer.
The start doesn’t guarantee a deep playoff run, but it does reveal a team built for more than incremental growth. This group moves, communicates and competes like a roster that has already skipped a step in the rebuilding timeline. Durant gives them a north star. The young core gives him energy and versatility he hasn’t had in years.
Houston needed a player who could anchor them without slowing their rise. Durant needed a team ready for his experience to matter. Through 13 games, the fit looks perfect. And judging from the way this Rockets group is carrying itself, they’re just getting started.
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