00:00It looks like, at least there's reports out there,
00:02that the Rockets maybe aren't aggressively pursuing a trade
00:08that involves Kevin Durant this offseason.
00:11However, they're not completely avoiding it.
00:17Kevin Durant could be on the move.
00:19That's a good way to put that.
00:19Could be on the move, but, Johnny, I know you've seen a little action,
00:23maybe a report somewhere along the way that says such.
00:26Brett Siegel of Clutch Point reported yesterday
00:30that Durant has had a desire to play alongside Cade Cunningham,
00:37who's obviously with the Pistons these days,
00:41and you just mentioned it.
00:43The Rockets, while they've not been reported to be, quote-unquote,
00:48shopping Durant, they've been willing to listen, apparently,
00:53on teams that are calling about his services,
00:57that they've not deemed him as one of the untouchables.
01:00If, in fact, there is a, quote-unquote, untouchable on this squad.
01:04If there is, you know, some people might say it's Amin Thompson.
01:07Some people might say it's Alperen Shingun.
01:09You might have thought that, yeah, surely, of course,
01:11it's going to be Kevin Durant.
01:12He hadn't even been a Rocket for, you know, a calendar year yet.
01:16Right.
01:17Maybe it's him.
01:18Well, maybe, maybe not.
01:21Siegel said a couple of things here.
01:23One, according to the report,
01:25whether or not the Rockets look to continue their partnership with Durant
01:29is the big question at large,
01:31especially since they don't view him as an untouchable talent
01:35in trade talks on the roster.
01:36Houston viewed the opportunity to acquire Durant
01:39as a way to upgrade from Jalen Green
01:42and bridge the gaps in their lineup to contend in the West,
01:45but by no means was this edition viewed as a long-term commitment.
01:51Now, here's the thing.
01:53Have we, have we totally forgotten already about the burner accounts
01:59and that drama that it started during the All-Star?
02:06Have we forgotten about that?
02:07Have we already kicked that under the rug?
02:08Because that could have very well have created somewhat of a divide,
02:13and it seems as though, if we're going to judge by wins and losses alone,
02:18that if nothing else, it kind of galvanized the Rockets
02:22immediately after that point.
02:24The Rockets played better basketball and won more games,
02:27and it seemingly did not affect their on-court play.
02:33They won 50-plus games again this year.
02:36However, did they do that despite there being unrest in the Rockets' locker room?
02:41I think that, too, is also the crux of this report
02:44in terms of why the Rockets are not viewing Durant as a quote-unquote untouchable.
02:49Well, look, I think, I don't think it's crazy that the Rockets would entertain trading him.
02:53I don't think it's crazy that they would even aggressively entertain trading him
02:57at this point in time.
02:58They've got to go one direction.
03:00You can't run it back.
03:01I mean, I hate the Marcus Smart ad and let's run this thing back.
03:04I mean, that can't be the plan for the Rockets.
03:09And on the other side of this thing, flip the coin, this cannot –
03:14we said it multiple times on the drive over the last couple of weeks –
03:17this cannot be what Kevin Durant signed up for.
03:20Kevin Durant has to be miserable at this time in his career.
03:27The playing damn near every game during the season
03:32and clearly the offensive minds on the bench for this team leave a lot to be desired.
03:39The basketball IQ for that young supporting cast that maybe if you watch from a distance
03:46ago maybe really impressed you, that basketball IQ has to leave a lot desired.
03:52If you're Kevin Durant and you're going to play for a couple more years,
03:55is Houston really the place for you?
03:58So I think, to me, this is a – this is not just a, boy, well, the Astros.
04:04The Rockets, you know, are entertaining trading.
04:07I would – I got to believe that Kevin Durant at some point probably has said,
04:13yeah, I wouldn't mind moving.
04:14I think it's on the table.
04:15If you're just asking my opinion, I think trading Kevin Durant is on the table.
04:20Sure, absolutely.
04:20However, you know, Kevin Durant is 37, 37 years old,
04:25and how much more basketball does the guy actually have left in him?
04:29And does he have it in him to, you know, want the maturation process to take place?
04:36You know, he'd spent three years at Golden State, got a chip, spent three years in Brooklyn,
04:42failed experiment, spent three years in Phoenix, or maybe two and a half years in Phoenix,
04:47I believe it was, failed experiment.
04:50You're going to give him one year in Houston before you decide to call it quits at his age?
04:55Because you have to make a decision if you're Kevin Durant, in my opinion, and the Rockets too.
05:01Is that maturation process going to take place here, or is that going to begin somewhere else?
05:09Do you think you can catch lightning in a bottle if you're Kevin Durant
05:13and do that in Detroit with Cade Cunningham?
05:16Is that a team that is close enough in the Eastern Conference
05:20to rival the defending champion New York Knicks,
05:23to see what the Boston Celtics, you know, are trying to build back up again
05:30after jettisoning, you know, Jalen Brown?
05:32What can they do this year and beyond with Jason Tatum and that core up there?
05:38Is there a better path in the East than there exists in the West?
05:41I don't know the answer to those questions.
05:44To me, it's a really difficult question to answer if you're both the Rockets and Kevin Durant
05:52and probably more difficult if you're Kevin Durant
05:54because you've been through so many failures since your last championship in Golden State.
05:59Well, yeah, I mean, I think what you laid out before, again, from Kevin Durant's perspective,
06:05the failed attempt in Brooklyn, the failed attempt in Phoenix,
06:11and now you're a year into a failed attempt in Houston.
06:14I believe if I'm Kevin Durant, I'd be a whole hell of a lot more interested at this point
06:19than doing what LeBron's doing.
06:23Yeah.
06:24Teaming up with some old heads that got a really good coach
06:26that maybe you can support with some young talent
06:29and seeing if you can make a run and have a little fun.
06:31Again, that's not happening here, man.
06:34It seems to me like an odd fit for Kevin Durant.
06:39If they're not going to make major moves in Houston,
06:43it seems like an odd fit for Kevin Durant.
06:46And when I say major moves, I mean that young core busting those guys up.
06:50I mean, obviously, the head coach situation, that's not going to change.
06:53It just doesn't.
06:54If I'm Kevin Durant, I don't know that this is what I signed up.
06:56It feels like if you're doing that, though,
06:58there's a decision that you're making ahead of the fork in the road.
07:01Because if you bust that young nucleus up,
07:05and the guy slash guys that are elder statesmen in this league,
07:10and Durant and smart, and who knows if Fred Van Vliet exists in this dynamic or not,
07:15but you're going to either go that direction,
07:18or you're going to kind of keep, for the most part,
07:21this young nucleus together and have potential to be, one, flexible in winning over the course of maybe the next
07:30five to seven years
07:31versus maybe only giving yourself a chance for the next two, max three with an older team.
07:38That's kind of how I see it on the surface.
07:40I ultimately think, while all of these reports make you think about the possibilities,
07:47I still kind of believe that the Rockets are, quote-unquote, long for Durant,
07:52and Durant is long for the Rockets in terms of the length of his current contract.
07:57Because there's no way that Durant and the Rockets agree to sign this deal, make this thing happen,
08:05and it'd be a championship or bust season in year one.
08:08We all thought that, but they never said that,
08:11and Rafael Stone doubled down on that at season's end.
08:14Well, this was never a championship or bust.
08:16We never operated like that.
08:17Yeah, you never operated like that,
08:19because whenever you found out Fred Van Vliet was going to be lost for the season,
08:23and then Steven Adams goes down,
08:24you've made zero attempt to improve this roster.
08:28The halfway point.
08:29You knew you needed a point guard.
08:31You didn't try to go get one.
08:32I mean, you could have gotten one on the cheap, gone out and got Spencer Dinwiddie,
08:35who said he wanted to be here, and it would have cost you nothing but dollars and cents.
08:40No players giving up nothing.
08:41He was a free agent.
08:42You didn't do that.
08:43And so you decided to, on this season that had a healthy Kevin Durant,
08:49play as good a basketball as he has in his 30s,
08:53it has to be more than just about this past year.
08:56It has to be about the length of the deal.
08:57I mean, living in the rearview mirror of, like,
09:01why did you make the Kevin Durant deal at this point,
09:03I think is really wasted time.
09:06I mean, the Kevin Durant deal was made,
09:10I don't know if it was made to win a championship in year one,
09:13but it was damn sure made with the expectations of a young group
09:17developing and giving you a chance.
09:19A good chance.
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