Expectations For The Rockets Are Reaching James Harden-Era Levels

The Houston Rockets have skyrocketed their expectations after a strong season last year, combined with some quality offseason moves. Now, the Rockets are considered among a short list of teams capable of winning an NBA championship. They haven't been in this position for years, not since the Rockets employed former MVP James Harden. They hadn't had a team or player capable of battling through difficult postseason runs since then, making the playoffs just once since Harden's departure.

With the addition of Durant, arguably still a top ten player in the league, the Rockets have ascended back to the level of contention they had in the years just before the start of the 2020s.

One similarity between the two eras is the acquisition of a star player to help lead the team's offense. Harden took a much more hands-on approach to leading the offense, as every possession began with him in isolation.

The Durant-era will be different in that Houston has several other dependable players on offense.

Durant will play with a quality point guard in Fred VanVleet, skilled big men in Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr., and an elite athlete in Amen Thompson. Harden's most competitive teams featured at most one other player capable of helping lead the offense.

A big similarity between the current Rockets and Houston's most recent opportunity to reach the NBA Finals is a plethora of defensive wings to send at opposing ball handlers and scorers.

Thompson, Smith Jr., Tari Eason and Dorian Finney-Smith are the current examples of that concept. They will be tasked with guarding some of the more difficult matchups throughout the season, and they'll take on the best players in the postseason as well.

The switchability of having several wing defenders helps with cohesion on the defensive end. Scorers have to deal with the constant pressure of impact defenders with length.

For the current Rockets to exceed the heights the Harden Rockets reached, they will have to depend on cohesion throughout the entire team. It's not fair to expect superheroics from Durant in every game to save the Rockets like Harden did in his tenure. Durant is definitely still capable of that, but it would be a failure if the team depends solely on Durant to win games.

The Rockets believe they have a full roster built to win games at the highest level, and each player provides a different layer that strengthens the belief. With added belief comes increased expectations, and Houston has given itself a chance to reach those expectations next season.