“They’re the only team, in my opinion, that’s now looking eye to eye with the champs (Oklahoma City),” ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins says of the Rockets.
Led by the acquisition of All-Star forward Kevin Durant, the Houston Rockets clearly seem to have improved during the NBA’s 2025 offseason.
But are they truly at the level of championship contention? Keep in mind that Houston (52-30) won 16 fewer games last season than the Oklahoma City Thunder (68-14), who dominated the Western Conference and ultimately went on to win the 2025 NBA Finals.
As ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins sees it, though, the 2025-26 Rockets have a chance to compete with anyone — including the Thunder. When asked on a recent NBA Today episode about which offseason move pushed a team closer to contention, Perkins made the case for Durant and the Rockets.
His comments:
They’re the only team, in my opinion, that’s now looking eye to eye with the champs.
They had the pieces. They finished No. 2 in the Western Conference last year, and what did they lack? They lacked a closer. Jalen Green couldn’t be that.
Kevin Durant is that. Arguably, in my eyes, the greatest scorer to ever touch a basketball.
They’re loaded and stacked with wings, and they were able to keep their young guys. Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, Jabari Smith Jr. They can play inside out, and they love to stretch the floor. They’ve got great depth and a hell of a coach (Ime Udoka).
I’m looking at the Rockets right now as the second best team in the NBA, and they’re just inches behind the Oklahoma City Thunder. I think it’s night and day, as far as what they’ve done this offseason and everybody else.
More than a decade ago, Perkins played alongside Durant for multiple seasons with the Thunder. Today, he lives in Houston. So, the center-turned-analyst likely has a keen interest in both franchises.
Houston went 2-3 in head-to-head matchups against Oklahoma City last season, and each team went a perfect 2-0 on its home floor. The tiebreaker, of sorts, was an Emirates NBA Cup semifinal in Las Vegas, which the Thunder won to advance to the championship.