Kevin Durant's Gravity and Passing Will Make Every Rocket's Life a Lot Easier

The Houston Rockets have steadily improved over the last two seasons, progressing from a bottom-tier lottery team to a 41-win team on the rise, which narrowly missed the playoffs, to a 52-win team that finished second in the Western Conference. The Rockets began rebuilding the team after trading James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets, and over the past two seasons, they have transitioned into becoming a competitive team.

Now the Rockets have loftier goals, believing they can be a championship team. The Rockets swung for the fences, using another sports analogy, with the blockbuster trade for Kevin Durant. Durant brings the efficient high-level scorer the Rockets have needed, especially in games against tough competition. It was even more apparent that the Rockets lack that scorer in their first-round loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Durant is one of the best offensive players of all time, and with such a reputation, he is typically the primary focus of opposing defenses. That usually means Durant's teammates have one-on-one opportunities and are sometimes wide open as defenses rotate help to Durant.

That gives Durant opportunities to help his teammates, which has been a overlooked part of his game for his entire career. Durant has averaged over four assists for his past 12 seasons.

To put it in context, Durant's 4.2 assists he averaged last season on a bad Phoenix Suns team would have put him third on the Rockets. Now that Durant will be on a better team this upcoming season, his assist numbers will go up compared to last season. Durant's height also helps him with double teams as he can look over defenders and hit teammates cutting to the basket.

One player that will benefit the most from Durant's passing when it comes to cutting to the basket is Amen Thompson. Thompson entered the NBA as a point guard but has thrived at the forward position, utilizing his ability to score around the basket, especially when cutting without the ball. Thompson spoke about this with Vanessa Richardson recently, while they were in Vegas.