Like a tiger with wings! Rockets mature system strengthens super single-handed fighter, and takes off at the lowest price

The Houston Rockets lost to the Warriors in the first round of the playoffs this year, which is one of the important reasons why they pursue Durant.

I believe everyone sees the problems exposed in the Rockets' playoffs: the regular season defensive efficiency is fourth in the league, and the playoffs still handed over top defense. G1, G2 and G3 can limit the Warriors' first quarter score to 18 points in three consecutive games.

Authentic, the opponent cannot get a point, and the Rockets' own positional battle and offense are also very struggling. The fatal weakness is that there is no hard-hitting star who can make a final decision at a critical moment.

This answer should have been given high expectations Jaylen Green. As the scoring champion in the regular season team and the only scorer in the team who averaged more than 20 points per game, he performed terriblely in the playoffs: G2 scored 38 points and played the only good goal, G1 scored 3 of 15 shots and scored only 7 points, G3, G4, and G7 scored single digits, G5 and G6 scored 11 points and 12 points respectively, and averaged 13.3 points, shooting percentage of 37.2%, and three-point shooting percentage of 29.5%, and starting next season, he started to execute a three-year, $106 million contract.

The Rockets' first round out cannot completely let Jaylen Green take the blame, but as a core outside star, his poor performance is undoubtedly one of the important factors for the Rockets to be eliminated.

There are actually two options for the Rockets who enter the offseason early: one is to keep patience and let Jaylen Green grow, after all, this young man is 23 years old and 134 days old; the other is to strengthen the deal with zero exchanges, the Rockets win 52 times, the West's second, and the mature defensive system. These conditions fundamentally determine that they are only about to break through the last layer of window paper when they become the real champion team.

This layer of window paper can be Durant, Antetokounmpo, Jaylen Brown, etc. If Jaylen Green, the "negative asset" of the 25-year playoffs, can be used to strengthen it, it will undoubtedly be a great benefit to the Rockets.

The Rockets have the first round picks in 2025, 2027 and 2029, holding the Suns' lifeblood. It is no exaggeration to say that the Suns are more anxious to "marry" Durant in order to exchange for their own draft picks.

But Durant's contract and age restrict his transaction value. He has a contract of 54.7 million in the last year (2025-26 season), and he is now 36 years old and 267 days - at this time point, any team that "purchases" Durant can only get the right to use the God of Death for one year first.

Although Durant does not have the right to trade veto, he can still use the rejection of contract renewal as a bargaining chip to decide his new home. This situation is actually similar to the fact that the Raptors have obtained Leonard's first-year use rights from the Spurs. The worst result is that the forced melon is not sweet. Lao Du left after a year of beating, so Durant did not nod and the buyer dared not make the transaction.

The Suns will send Durant away before the trading deadline in February 2026 at the latest. After all, his contract expires in the last year, and it will undoubtedly be the lowest point of Durant's transaction value at that time, and it will inevitably face joint price reductions from multiple parties. In order to avoid losing Durant in vain, taking early and cashing out early is the only way for the Suns to maximize the value of Durant's transactions as much as possible.

In the end, the Suns exchanged Durant for Jaylen Green, Dillon, 10th sign in 2025, and 5 second round picks. Durant was worth only one first round, which sounds surprising. It is not that Durant is worthless or useless. This situation is similar to Irving, who got the expiring contract 6 days ago when the Mavericks received the expiring contract 6 days ago in 2023. In fact, it is another special transaction case caused by age, expiration contract, and parent team trading pressure.

Durant switched teams again, which was a relief for him and the Suns.

Durant's past in the Thunder, Warriors, Nets, and Suns proved one thing: in a team with a mature system, Durant can solve problems as a nuclear weapon, and his ability to lead the team as an absolute core is indeed lacking - he has historically advanced attack and ending ability, which is a general and does not have the coach who can lead a single core team to win the championship with his own system.

In short, Adu is a good general who can charge forward, but not a good commander. He is indeed not at the same level as James, Curry and Jokic in his ability to lead the team.

The Suns have gone to death. First of all, the salary of the three giants exploded. They have no money or space to build a rotation system that matches the giants. The long rotation system cultivated by their own drafts has become the mainstream of the times (Champion Warriors + Celtics and this year's Thunder and Pacers). The multi-giant + basic salary model is no longer adapting to the times.

The functional attributes of the three Suns overlap, and Bill + Booker's quality is not comparable to Harden + Irving during the Nets' period. They are nominally the three giants, but in fact they are pseudo-giants. The overlap of high salary and low salary and star attributes have led to the lack of championship-winning configurations such as leader defense, inside line, rotation depth, etc., which fundamentally restricts the team's competitiveness.

Durant averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.2 blocks in the last season of the Suns, shooting percentage of 52.7% and three-point shooting percentage of 43.0%. This performance is very excellent for a veteran who is over 36 years old, but there is a lack of a mature system that can win.

Durant and the Rockets are heading in both directions. The Rockets can provide a mature system, and Durant can make up for the most urgent solution of the Rockets, and hit it off.

The Rockets have the fourth defense in the league. The defense replacement and double tower joint defense system created by Uduka is very successful. The team has a defensive team led by Amen, and two practical centers in the interior are Shin Kyung and Aquaman. Everything is ready. The complete team configuration fundamentally determines Durant's future workload - he will inevitably be easier than his role in the Nets and the Suns, at least there are many young people in defense that can help him share his worries.

52 wins the Rockets trade to get Durant and the 16 Warriors signed free agent Durant in similar situations. Both mature systems have strengthened nuclear weapons. It is inevitable that the Rockets will take off in the new season. Durant will be renewed for two years in the future. The Rockets will be the first-tier championship team in the next three years..

The Rockets upgraded Jaylen Green to Durant. Although they paid for Dillon to match their salary, they kept Jabbarry Smith Jr., and the forward group was not hurt. This is also the Rockets' most profitable thing in this deal.

The Rockets only fired the first shot when they won Durant. They still have the Suns' first round in 27 and 29 years, and there are still a large number of high-quality assets to be strengthened in subsequent operations, which will not be continued.

We can question Durant's choice (join the Warriors) and reputation, but it must be admitted that at the technical level on the court, Durant's unscathing ball fool is definitely the most perfect addition to the Rockets Youth Army!

Mature system + the strongest mercenary, I believe everyone has seen it in 2017 and 2018, and it has become inevitable that the Rockets will take off.