With All-Star forward Kevin Durant in the fold, the Houston Rockets have their sights set on championship contention in the 2025-26 NBA season.
The Rockets finished 52-30 and No. 2 in the Western Conference in 2024-25, and the one team ahead of them in the standings was top-seeded Oklahoma City (68-14), which just polished off its first NBA Finals championship in franchise history.
So, the Thunder are deservedly going to take some time celebrating their own success before focusing on another season that is months away.
In an appearance on ESPN’s First Take on Monday, Thunder star Jalen Williams said this regarding the Durant trade, which was leaked hours before Game 7:
That’s dope for Houston, but I didn’t really pay that news much attention. Obviously, wherever KD goes, he’s gonna change the way a team plays for the better. It’s always good having more competition in the West, and Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks stay in the West (with the Phoenix Suns), too. We accept all challenges, but I could care less about what’s going on in the NBA, besides our parade and the rest of our week.
For his part, Durant offer his congratulations to the Thunder in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter). Durant played nearly a decade in Oklahoma City at the start of his distinguished career, and he earned league Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors in the 2013-14 season.
Between Durant’s personal history with the Thunder and the Rockets’ desire to climb to the top spot in the West hierarchy, it’s possible that Oklahoma City-Houston could be quite a rivalry in 2025-26.
But the Thunder are understandably going to take a few days to celebrate, first, before turning their attention to a season that starts in October.
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: ‘That’s dope for Houston’: Thunder star Jalen Williams on Kevin Durant trade
Reporting by Ben DuBose, Rockets Wire / Rockets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
