How the Rockets are Perfectly Blending Two Timelines

The Houston Rockets launched to 57 wins last season, running through the Western Conference and landing the No. 2 seed. Led by a young core of Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson and Jalen Green, the team's inexperience eventually caught up to them, as Houston fell to the Golden State Warriors in round one of the playoffs.

General Manager Rafael Stone was quick to fix that problem, trading Green in exchange for 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant – who now becomes the Rockets top option. Nobody's questioning Durant's talent as a premiere scorer in the league, but being 36 years old is a sharp contrast from much of the Rockets core.

Many wonder how he'll fit, as the traditional team-building is to have the core on the same timeline. A recent example of a contender trying to blend young talent with championship-caliber veterans is the Golden State Warriors, who reloaded on assets following Durant's departure, and claimed the 2022 NBA Championship after so.

Here's the similarities and differences between the two organizations approaches.

In the case of the Warriors, Golden State already had an established championship core of veterans in Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. They were able to reload on young talent in the draft for a few rebuilding seasons like Jordan Poole, James Wiseman, Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga.

This put pressure on those young players to develop on a fast track and be ready to contribute to championship-caliber basketball early on in their careers. These youngsters were put in a situation where they had to mold their games to join a system that complements the veterans, and reasonably so.

Some flourished in the system, like Jordan Poole – who averaged 17 points per game throughout the teams 2022 postseason run. Others didn't have the same luck, such as James Wiseman and Jonathan Kuminga, who never quite found their role with the team.

Where Houston differs in this strategy is that their young core has already established roles, putting the pressure is on the veterans to join the team and contribute. The Rockets gave multiple seasons of development for Sengun, Thompson, Tari Eason and Jabari Smith Jr. – allowing the quartet to find their footing and develop chemistry within the organization.

Each have proven ready to play serious playoff minutes, and still have room to grow. It's much easier for an established veteran to join a contending squad and find his role than it is for a young player still trying to prove his worth in the league, setting up this new Rockets squad perfectly.

As veterans like Durant, Clint Capela and Dorian Finney-Smith join Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams, they complete a core that perfectly blends young talent with rotational veteran experience.