Current, Former Rockets Forwards Rank Among Most Exciting to Watch in NBA History

The Houston Rockets know a thing or two about legendary wings, especially offensive-leaning ones. Tracy McGrady remains one of the game's most fluid, natural scorers, especially for his size.

James Harden could very well be one of the game's greatest isolation scorers ever, as he proved capable of averaging 30 points on a nightly basis at will.

Houston's wing depth isn't just limited to scorers though. Scottie Pippen was an All-Defensive forward for the franchise, albeit for a relatively brief period of time.

Fadeaway World compiled a list of the most exciting forwards to watch in NBA history and the Rockets had multiple players on the list, including former Hall of Fame forward Carmelo Anthony and current Hall of Fame forward Kevin Durant. The writer gave his reasoning for both, starting with Durant.

"Many NBA fans argue that Kevin Durant is the greatest scorer in NBA history, and they have a good case. Durant led the NBA in scoring four different seasons because of his highly exciting three-level scoring ability. Watching a 6’11 alien-like player score with the moves of a smaller guard is super exciting."

Anthony came right after Durant on the list.

"Another elite NBA scorer was Carmelo Anthony. Carmelo was one of the smoothest, pure scorers in the history of the NBA. His mid-range moves and jump-shot form were beautiful to watch."

Both players were in the second tier, dubbed super exciting.

In total, there were six tiers: peak entertainment, super exciting, very exciting, normal excitement, somewhat exciting, and not exciting.

Anthony's stint in Houston was unceremonious, to put it politely. Rocky, tumultuous, and volatile are other words that come to mind.

Short-lived is probably the best way to coin it. The Hall of Fame forward wasn't a fit for Houston's advanced analytics wave, as the Rockets launched an avalanche of threes, while Anthony was a mid-range specialist.

'Melo wanted a bigger role than Houston could provide and hadn't yet come around to coming off the bench, which he accepted on each of his stops post Houston.

Durant, like Anthony, also values the mid-range, however he does more than just score. Durant has proven capable of facilitating for others and is extremely underrated on defense, ranking as the league's best isolation defender in 2024-25. 

Not to mention his ability to provide helpside rim protection.

Although Durant enters year 19, he's still playing at an extremely high level and provides the long coveted closer for the Rockets.