Some imaginations about Durant joining the Rockets. If the Rockets want to win the championship, they must do these things well.

Just as the 2024-2025 season finals came to an end, an explosive news swept the NBA, and its popularity even surpassed the Thunder's championship. This news is that the Suns reached a deal with the Rockets, and Durant joined the Rockets. The specific trading formula is -

Durant = Dillon + Jaylen Green + 2025 Rockets No. 10 pick + the next five second round picks.

A brief comment on this transaction, the Rockets make a lot of money, and the Suns are to be determined.

The reason why the Suns are to be determined is that we have to look at the Suns' team's ideas again. If we still want to win the championship, after this deal, the team's overall strength will decline to the naked eye, directly from the first level of the championship level to the second-tier team. How Booker can share with inefficient scorers Jaylen Green is a huge problem at the moment. Even if there are subsequent transactions, Jaylen, the No. 10 draw and Dillon cannot introduce superstars of Durant.

But there is another idea, that is, after this transaction, the Suns are very likely to rebuild. If this idea is the case, Jaylen Green and Dillon are worth at least one of the first rounds that are not far behind. With Durant's first round, the Suns' sale of Durant is equivalent to at least 3 first rounds and 5 second rounds, and the profit is still good.

Not to mention that the Suns are not able to rebuild, the Suns have paid super luxury taxes for four consecutive years, with annual expenses, principal, interest and fines exceeding 300 million yuan. The team owner Matt has collapsed and has complained publicly several times.

Bill's LJ contract is still 2 years and 140 million yuan, and it also has a trade veto. It's basically a waste of money. Booker has 56 million yuan left in a year. How much money is given to him when it expires next season is another question. Moreover, Booker is no longer young. He will be 30 years old next season. His career has been proven to be a big data brush, able to play good data, but he just can't lead the team to win.

Due to internal and external troubles, is the sun still necessary to persevere?

After briefly speaking, let's focus on the impact of this deal on the Rockets.

This deal is a big profit for the Rockets. Although Durant is 36 years old, his average double shooting percentage of 53% and 43% per game last season proves that he is still a treasure sword. With Durant's playing style, as long as there are no huge injuries, it is no problem to maintain his peak for two years. Therefore, in the next two years, the Rockets' overall goal will be upgraded from running in the playoffs to competing for the championship.

The goal has been raised. No matter whether it can be achieved in the end, the Rockets will make sure to make money, earn ratings, gain traffic, and sell tickets. It is foreseeable that the Rockets will become one of the hottest teams in the league in the next two years.

So the question is, will the Rockets have any hope of winning the championship in the next two years?

There is really!

After the Rockets introduced Durant, the team's salary model is exactly the same as the Thunder who won the championship this year. One or two top-paid superstars lead a rookie. This model is simple, efficient and does not hurt money. It is simply the dream championship of the bosses of each team.

Next season, among the players expected to enter the team's rotation lineup, Jabbarry Smith Jr., Tari Ethan is about to start his fourth season of his rookie contract, Amen Thompson, and Whitmore of White Devils are about to start his third season, while last year's rookie Reed Shepard is only in the second grade of the rookie.

These five people can be said to be the main rotation of the Rockets next season, and they are of high quality and low price. What kind of performance they play will directly determine how far the Rockets can go.

However, after having Durant, the Rockets still have several difficult problems that need to be dealt with urgently.

The first one is how to deal with VanVleet.

VanVleet scored 14 points and 5 assists last season, with a double-event shooting percentage of 38% + 34%. At his peak, he was originally an inefficient scorer. This attribute is something that the championship-level team hates and must be dealt with. What's worse is that as he grows older (will be 33 years old next season), he can't even hold on to the ball. His performance in the playoffs is even more shattered, almost killing Curry. His contract has only been worth 42 million in the last year. There is no doubt that this is an LJ contract second only to Brad Bill.

If you have been strong for a year and have a player with a contract of more than 40 million LJ, the team has no hope of winning the championship and will waste Durant's peak period in vain. However, if it is put on the shelves, the transaction value is very small. The only way to trade is to see which rebuilding team can take this big contract and get a mid-level, slightly premium sixth man, which is already very good. As for whether he is a champion player, it depends on the god.

The second problem is the Rockets' inside combination, Shin Kyung and Aquaman Adams.

Adams just renewed a three-year, 39 million contract with the Rockets. When he signed this contract, he didn't expect Durant to come. If he had known Durant was coming, the Rockets would definitely not have wanted Adams, because Adams and Durant would not have matched each other when they were in the Thunder.

Adams has three functions on the court, such as defending, rebounding and pick-and-roll. I won’t talk about the first two, mainly pick-and-roll. Adams can be said to be the player with the highest pick-and-roll efficiency in the league. This attribute is perfect for Westbrook and Curry, such a defender with strong assault ability or strong shooting ability, but Durant’s singles do not require pick-and-roll, and the pick-and-roll may cause the opponent to attack Durant, and the effect is appropriate..

But this is not a big problem, because Adams only has 13 million yuan a year, and his salary is not high. Durant's physical strength is not a strong point, and he is even more unlikely to play more than 40 minutes per game when he is older. Adams can travel with Durant at the off-peak distance, and match the White Devils to support the score difference for 15-20 minutes. The biggest problem in the Rockets' inside is Shin Kyung.

Shen Kyung's five-year salary of 185 million yuan has just begun next season, and he will take nearly 40 million yuan a year, mainly because Shin Kyung and Durant's style are not in line with each other.

Shen Jing's offense, organizational support, rebounding and ambition are all fine. His biggest problem is that he has no frame protection. Due to his height and mediocre physical fitness, Shin Jing, as a starting center, can't even block a game. In seven games in the playoffs, he gave away 3 blocks in total, and blocks were zero in five games, which is really unreasonable.

The rift-protecting center is very important for Durant. At the Nets, Clarkston did this job, but later went to the Suns, and the one who did this job became Ayton. In short, if Durant has to be equipped with an excellent rift-protecting player, why?

Durant after a major injury, although he can still maintain the top level in the league on the offensive end, his defense is not good - fans often say that a ruptured Achilles tendon has no effect on Durant. Those who say this are those who do not watch the ball at all. Durant after a major injury has always ranked 100th in the league in defense. It does not mean that Durant's defense is just paper, but he has to put his limited physical strength on the offense.

There are two main ideas to solve the problem of Durant's poor defense. One is to equip Durant with a 3D front line. For example, Dillon, who just gave it out, is very suitable, but this kind of player is very difficult to find now. Even if there are, the price is very expensive. The kind of base is 20 million yuan, and the slightly better one is 30 million yuan, which is not cost-effective.

The second idea is to be equipped with a frame protector. After the opponent broke through Durant's defense line, he asked him to challenge the frame protector of the big center directly. Compared with 3D, the center who can protect the frame is very easy to find. Even if he doesn't know anything, he can run or jump a little taller, and he can play ball with a double body and is not afraid of death. The key is that the price is not expensive, eight million yuan. A lot of young people are rushing to do this job, and the cost-effectiveness is very good.

But the key question is, after you put Durant, you have to put the frame guard. What should Shen Jing do? Could it be that he also traveled with Durant at the same time like Aquaman Adams, and played for 20 minutes in one game? It is not realistic that Adams is worth and Shen Jing is worth.

When you see this, there may be a big brother on the list who wants to say, why do you always have to equip Durant with players?

That's certain. If the Rockets want to win the championship, they must draw players around Durant as the core. Could it be that Shin Kyung is the core? The Rockets played well last season with Shin Kyung as the core. They lost 7 games in the first round before they lost, which greatly encouraged many Rocket fans.

But anyone with discerning eyes knows that this is already the limit of Shin Jing leading the team. With Shin Jing as the core, it is impossible to have a championship. He is not a star of this level. If it is true, why don’t the Rockets give him a maximum salary, and just give him a contract with a top second-in-command, and Shin Jing accepts it?

Finally, it is a technique that the whole team urgently needs to improve, that is, three-pointers.

In the current NBA, it doesn't need to be said about how important the three-pointer is, but the Rockets' performance is not good in this regard. Last season, the Rockets' three-point shooting percentage was only 35.3%, ranking 20th in the NBA. The reason why they can enter the playoffs is that they averaged 48.5 rebounds per game, and the young man is good, but they can grab it. After these two people, Jaylen Green's three-point shooting percentage was 35.5%, and Dillon was 39.7%, and they are both the team's main three-point shooters.

In other words, the two main Rockets who can throw three-pointers have left, and the rest of the people are very struggling outside the three-point line. After Durant comes to the Rockets, he will definitely undertake a large number of singles tasks. Not only will the ball be reduced, but the remaining people must also have the ability to catch the pot and throw three-pointers at any time. This will be a big challenge for the Rockets' players, especially the five young young people mentioned above + Shin Kyung.

Of course, the above things are based on the position of wanting to win the championship. Then again, if you don’t want to win the championship, why did you bring Durant to do it? But the same thing is, the Rockets boss will make sure to make a profit no matter whether he can win the championship in the end. Even if he can’t win the championship, the Rockets will earn enough tickets and traffic in the next two years.

Okay, that's all the content of this article. What are the comments of the top brothers on the list about Durant's joining the Rockets? Let's discuss it together in the comment section. I feel that Fireworks is well written. I hope to get a small like + attention for encouragement. Thank you! Fireworks will continue to output high-quality original content to everyone.