In a poll of NBA staffers conducted by ESPN, more than half rated the Houston Rockets’ trade acquisition of Kevin Durant as the best move of the 2025 offseason.
“Their deficiency in the playoffs was not having a go-to scorer,” a Western Conference scout said (via ESPN’s Tim Bontemps). “Now, they have Kevin Durant.”
A future Hall of Famer and one of the game’s all-time great scorers, Durant remains in elite form after earning his 15th career All-Star berth last season.
Of 20 total votes, the Durant trade received 11 votes as the 2025 offseason’s best move. The second-place finisher was Orlando’s acquisition of Desmond Bane from Memphis.
With three votes, Houston finished third in the poll question on which team had the best 2025 offseason, trailing the Atlanta Hawks (seven votes) and Denver Nuggets (four votes).
Though the Durant-led Rockets are certainly now among the league’s 2025-26 championship contenders, they didn’t receive any votes on the topic of which team will win the West and the NBA. Via ESPN’s offseason survey, all 20 of those votes went to the Nuggets (two votes) or the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder (18 votes).
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Kevin Durant to Rockets: NBA staffers rate it as best 2025 offseason move
Reporting by Ben DuBose, Rockets Wire / Rockets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
