{"id":616188,"date":"2026-02-21T18:05:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T18:05:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/616188\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T18:05:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T18:05:18","slug":"rockets-could-reach-an-inflection-point-this-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/616188\/","title":{"rendered":"Rockets could reach an inflection point this Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, yeah.<\/p>\n

Uhh\u2026<\/p>\n

This is awkward.<\/p>\n

A burner. In a group chat full of \u201cstan\u201d accounts. Speaking poorly of his teammates.<\/p>\n

What?<\/p>\n

Well, it\u2019s a testament to your poor judgment if you expect emotional maturity from NBA superstars. This man has been exalted for 20 years. Shame is likely less of a variable in his life than it is in yours or mine.<\/p>\n

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That said, it is imperative (potentially for legal reasons, and if not certainly for journalistic integrity) to note that we do not know if it was Durant.<\/p>\n

It does feel like it was Durant, though, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

He had every opportunity to deny it. Deflection without denial is suspect at best. If you suspect your partner of cheating, and when confronted, they tell you, \u201cI\u2019m not here to talk about all that cheating nonsense\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n

I have got bad news for you.<\/p>\n

Still, speculation is speculative in nature. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn\u2019t. Here\u2019s the rub:<\/p>\n

The Rockets may have to make a choice this summer anyway.<\/p>\n

Rockets might reach an inflection point<\/p>\n

Theoretically, there are three options:<\/p>\n

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If the Rockets win a playoff series, option 1 will likely appeal. The theory that re-inserting Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams into the equation will yield sufficient improvement will carry some weight.<\/p>\n

What if they don\u2019t?<\/p>\n

I just spilled ample ink on how important Fred VanVleet is.<\/a> So much as I stand by that, it would be a bit hard to accept that a first-round exit team would be vaulted into serious title contention by his low assist-to-turnover ratio. If the Rockets can\u2019t win one playoff series, it\u2019s hard decision time.<\/p>\n

In essence, that means either Antetokounmpo season, or sending Durant to the Hornets team he (allegedly) so openly admires.<\/p>\n

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Most Rockets fans will prefer the latter route. It\u2019s understandable. There is a prevalent parasocial attachment to the \u201cyoung core.\u201d It\u2019s human.<\/p>\n

The fact that I\u2019m impervious to it may be a subject for therapy.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a harsh reality check: That young core is getting older. Life comes at you fast. Statistically speaking, NBA players tend to level off, improvement-wise, around year 5, or age 25. Here\u2019s a whole academic study<\/a> if you need something*<\/p>\n

*I only read the abstract, but the information is there.<\/p>\n

Alperen Sengun is 23, and over halfway to 24. Amen Thompson is the same age. By now, the Rockets\u2019 front office should at least be considering the possibility that Sengun just won\u2019t ever be as efficient around the rim as his best-case comparisons are. They have to be entertaining the idea that Thompson will never have a workable jump shot.<\/p>\n

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Ergo, they have to be considering the possibility that they didn\u2019t draft \u201cthe guy\u201d.<\/p>\n

None of which is to say this choice is easy. This team is still talented. Houston could trade Durant for rotational guys and a first-round pick. They could forge ahead as a perennial first or second-round exit, hoping to strike gold in the draft. It\u2019s legitimately not a bad plan.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the only strong conclusion I\u2019m looking to draw here: If the Rockets don\u2019t win a playoff series, Option 1 should not be attractive to them. It\u2019s a waste of everyone\u2019s time. If they can\u2019t get that far in 2025-26, something substantive should change this summer.<\/p>\n

Even if it makes for some awkward conversations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So, yeah. Uhh\u2026 This is awkward. A burner. In a group chat full of \u201cstan\u201d accounts. Speaking poorly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":602992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1307,883,7,2133,866,292,6,1165,962,1101],"class_list":["post-616188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-alperen-sengun","tag-amen-thompson","tag-basketball","tag-durant","tag-fred-vanvleet","tag-houston","tag-nba","tag-playoff-series","tag-steven-adams","tag-the-rockets"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116109949309798155","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}