Are Houston Rockets Biggest Threat to OKC Thunder?

Hope springs in the summer for the NBA. Everyone is back to 0-0 –– Mark Daigneault's favorite record –– and they spend June and July looking to bolster rosters and prepare for next season.

As the calendar slowly creeps to August, it is time to crown winners and losers of the offseason and make bold declarations as to who has jumped the line of the standings to catapult themselves up the list of contenders.

The Houston Rockets are among the biggest winners of the offseason, adding Kevin Durant, Dorian Finney-Smith and Clint Capela with a net loss of Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks. Baked into this move's features are projected leaps from Amen Thompson, Alprene Sengun and Jabari Smith.

Houston was a 52-win squad a year ago, good enough for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference before flaming out in the first round of the playoffs in a seven-game bout with the Golden State Warriors.

All season, the Rockets lacked a legitimate go-to scorer, which was exposed in the postseason. Houston feels as though they have filled that need with the 36-year-old Durant.

Despite his age, the future Hall of Famer continues to be one of the best bucket-getters in the NBA, averaging 26 points, six rebounds, four assists and two stocks per game while shooting 52% from the floor, 43% from beyond the arc and 83% at the charity stripe.

Houston has already shown an ability to handle itself in the regular season, making it easier to load manage Durant to keep the veteran ready for a postseason run. That should make the Rockets a force come playoff time.

Though, do not discount their other additions. While Finney-Smith is past his prime, his impact should still be felt in Houston. Now, ranking as the Rockets' third or fourth best defender, he can shine as a pest on that end of the floor without being asked to do too much. The Florida product shot 41% from 3-point land a year ago, heightened in the corners to the tune of 45% in the corner and 40% off the catch.

Headed up by one of the best coaches in the NBA, Ime Udoka, the Rockets should be able to quickly work through any growing pains with this new-look roster. They might have a few bumps in the road as they churn through a more crowded front-court rotation, but by the end of the year, Houston will look every bit the part of a contender they are billed as.

Oklahoma City waltzes into the 2025-26 as reigning champs and the favorites in the Western Conference, with many trying to rival the Thunder and keep the NBA's non-repeat streak alive to crown an eighth straight unique winner.

However, when it comes to being the top rival of the Thunder, the Rockets are not yet on that level. The Denver Nuggets would like a word on who won the summer transaction window, cleaning up on the trade market and in free agency to boost a core that took OKC to the brink this postseason.

The Nuggets with the best player in the world, Nikola Jokic, flanked by Jamal Murray, Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon, a competent back up big man, Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr., gives Denver the right to be the second best team in the wild, wild west.

Houston tumbles no further than third on that list, which is still a good landing spot. Of the realistic options to win the Western Conference, these three teams stand out.