Longtime Insider Says Rockets Could be Top Threat to OKC Thunder

In many respects, the Oklahoma City Thunder are the team the Houston Rockets are gunning for. Well, not just the Rockets, every team is trying to dethrone Oklahoma City. 

After all, they just won the championship and they were able to retain all of their key pieces. The manner in which they won is strikingly similar to how Rockets coach Ime Udoka wants to play: suffocate opponents defensively and turn to your superstar when it's time to close the game out. 

The Thunder had the league's top-ranked defense and they turned to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (and Jalen Williams) when the going got tough.

The Rockets had the league's fourth-best defense in 2024-25 -- and improvement over their ninth-place ranking in the previous season -- and will be relying on newly-acquired superstar forward Kevin Durant to close opponents out.

The Rockets' addition of Durant figures to bolster their 13th-ranked offense in a major way, as he's one of the more reliable bucket-getters in league history, and replaces the often inconsistent Jalen Green. 

Sam Amick, the longtime insider and senior writer for The Athletic cited the Durant addition as the piece that could ultimately cause the Rockets to be the biggest threat to a title repeat by the Thunder.

"Not only did they add one of the greatest scorers of all time, they landed one of the most coveted free agents on the market in Dorian Finney-Smith.

So, does that suddenly make the Rockets title favorites? Not at all. But it would not surprise me to see Houston emerge as the top threat to Oklahoma City’s throne."

Amick noted the need for Durant to be selfless and continue to allow Rockets center Alperen Sengun and promising wing Amen Thompson to grow and develop.

He also referenced Durant's addition to the Golden State Warriors in 2016, noting Durant's ability to contribute immensely without taking away from key Warriors players. Furthermore, he pointed out that Durant became his best self defensively when surrounded by good defenders, much like what the Rockets have.

 The Thunder will have chemistry that the Rockets simply won't have. After all, the Rockets added the aforementioned Dorian Finney-Smith and Clint Capela, along with Durant, who all figure to play prominent roles for the team.

But acquiring talent is the most important task. After that, it's on the players to learn how to play alongside one another. Besides, they will have developed chemistry by the time the postseason rolls around anyway.