The Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder—and every other team in the NBA—have some competition when it comes to free-agent-to-be Kevin Durant.
The Houston Rockets want in on the fun, too.
It’s long been assumed the Rockets would wedge their way into the Durant sweepstakes. General manager Daryl Morey has a superstar fetish, nearly every team is going to have ample cap space this summer and, well, Durant is pretty damn good at this whole basketball thing.
Those assumptions remain accurate more than halfway through the season, according ESPN.com’s Calvin Watkins and Marc Stein:
The Rockets’ grand plan, sources said this week, remains making an all-out pursuit in free agency this summer for Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant. Rockets officials have long believed privately that they will have as good a chance as any team to lure Durant away from the Thunder in the offseason because of his strong relationship with former teammate James Harden and the room Houston has to pay Durant max-contract money while also re-signing Howard.
Houston is having a crappy season, which hurts its chances. Had the Rockets adequately followed up last year’s performance, which included a Western Conference Finals appearance, you’d have to cite them as one of the three prohibitive favorites to land KD.
It still helps, of course, that James Harden is in town. He’s a great recruiting tool when it comes to Durant. And if for some reason the Rockets do poach Durant, that’s going to hit the Thunder hard.
Then, and only then, you’ll be able to make the case that trading Harden not only cost them Durant, but set the stage for a Rockets juggernaut at Oklahoma City’s own direct expense.
