“I believe they’re gonna be the best offensive team in the league,” ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins says after watching Houston in the 2025-26 preseason.
Perk on the Rockets:
“I believe they’re gonna be the best offensive team in the league. They’re gonna get stops and it’s gonna be led by their best defender in Amen who I believe is gonna challenge Wemby in the next few years as the best 2-way player in the game” pic.twitter.com/1q2kzvo6d7
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) October 9, 2025
In their first game with Kevin Durant as a player, the Houston Rockets put up 140 points in a victory by double digits. The perennial All-Star led the way with 20 points in 23 minutes on extremely efficient shooting percentages of 70% overall, 50% on 3-pointers, and 100% on free throws.
Granted, it was a preseason game at home versus the Utah Jazz, but it was an encouraging sign for a team that finished in the middle of the pack in offensive rating last season.
So, how much better can the Rockets be, with Durant?
According to ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins, a former teammate of Durant with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston might end up having the best offense in the entire NBA. His analysis, from Wednesday’s NBA Today television show:
I believe they’re gonna be the best offensive team in the league. They had 32 assists last night, 68 paint points, and 13 dunks. They’re going to get out and run.
But they’re (also) going to get stops, and it’s going to be led by their best defender in Amen Thompson… who I believe is going to challenge Victor Wembanyama, in the next few years, as the best two-way player in the game.
Going from mediocre to No. 1 would be quite a jump, but Durant was a significant acquisition and remains one of the best scorers in league history. There are also promising signs early in training camp and the preseason from Thompson and Alperen Sengun, a duo of rising stars who are just 22 and 23 years old — and thus, still a point in their careers where further improvements can be expected.
So, even if having the NBA’s top offense is unlikely, it’s certainly not implausible.
With a 2-0 mark in the preseason, the Rockets will look to build on their recent form when they resume exhibition play next Tuesday versus the New Orleans Pelicans. Tipoff from a neutral site in Birmingham, Alabama, is at 7:00 p.m. Central, and the game will be televised on Space City Home Network and NBA League Pass.