Despite his Absence, the Rockets' Trade for Kevin Durant was the Right Move

ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins and Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant have had a rather tumultuous relationship, especially ever since Perkins ended his playing career and crossed over into the media field. The former Oklahoma City Thunder teammates were once best friends, up until that point.

The media profession requires players to give opinions that may not favor their former teammates who are still playing. It’s what caused former Rockets forward Charles Barkley to fall out with Michael Jordan.

Players take the criticism personal. Some more than others. Which is understandable.

Especially in the case of hot takes or analysis that lacks context, which is also what debate shows have boiled down to. Narratives are often what drives takes and ratings. We see them all of the time on social media as well.

But those who remain in the industry for the long while have mastered it. Stephen A. Smith shifted over from being a reporter to being an analyst and perpetuating hot takes and recycled narratives.

Perkins and Durant reached a boiling point years ago when Durant called him a sell out. However, this season, the two seemingly resorted to much happier times, as Durant was seen playing with Perkins’ kids outside of the Toyota Center.

It may be awhile before we see that again, based on Perkins’ assessment of Durant’s potentially negative impact on the Rockets (by his estimation).

“Let’s go facts over feelings right now and let’s keep it a buck. The Brooklyn Nets? disaster. The Phoenix Suns ran through two or three coaches. Two of them were championship caliber coaches. A disaster.

What did the Phoenix Suns do this year? They made it to the postseason. They were one of the biggest surprises in the NBA.

Okay, fast forward. Let’s look at the Houston Rockets. The Houston Rockets last year got to the first round.

I believe they pushed the Golden State Warriors as the number two seed to seven games. I believe the Houston Rockets did give up a guy in Jalen Green that they drafted with the number two pick.

They did give up a guy in Dillon Brooks, who is a culture setter, to get KD. What has been the biggest knock on the Rockets this year? Their chemistry.

It’s so bad that people were questioning is Ime Udoka still a good coach.”

There’s a lot to unpack here. First off, framing last season’s Rockets team pushing the Golden State Warriors to seven games is a bit disingenuous, because the Rockets were the higher seed, finishing with the second spot in the Western Conference.

That shouldn’t exactly be viewed as a reason not to make the trade for Kevin Durant. Also, Perkins using last year’s Rockets team as the litmus is also problematic because this year’s team won just as many games as last year’s team.

And also made the first round of the postseason, which he referenced for last year’s ball club. Also, the chemistry being off should have been expected, considering how much change the Rockets underwent during the offseason.

The team added Dorian Finney-Smith and Clint Capela, in addition to Durant, and missed their veteran leader in Fred VanVleet all season, due to injury. All told, the Rockets missed three starters from last season’s team, in Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and VanVleet.

And Steven Adams, who started at times for Houston. The chemistry issues were bound to happen. That’s not a Durant thing, in particular. That would’ve been the case for any team.

But that’s still not a reason not to make the trade. If you’ll recall, Green provided incapable of consistently being the Rockets’ go-to guy on a nightly basis, leaving them in search of a closer. Durant became available at a much lower price that someone of his caliber would normally come at.

Just because he’s injured and the team has been forced to carry on without him doesn’t mean that we have to alter the facts and/or dispose of the context.

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