Rockets' Stars Deemed Some of the Most Reliable in the NBA

While the NBA has become a league driven by depth and youth, star power will always be needed. Teams need a leader, or at least a player who can take over late in the game and provide that offensive spark. It's what separates the best from the worst.

The Houston Rockets, although a good team last season, weren't great because they lacked a true star. The spotlight was seemingly shared between Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun, two young players still navigating the league on a competitive team.

After a first-round exit in last season's playoffs, the Rockets went star hunting and found one of the greatest scorers of all time in Kevin Durant. He will provide that offensive spark to a team that already prides itself on an elite defense.

The duo of Durant and Sengun has already been proven to be effective. In the season opener, despite a loss, they combined for 62 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Sengun was reliable down the stretch, hitting clutch shots and forcing double overtime.

Speaking of reliability, Law Murray of The Athletic recently published his NBA reliability rankings, putting all of the league's best players into tiers. The tiers were based on who will show up in an 82-game season.

Durant was featured in Tier 2, ranked No. 13. While the 37-year-old would be higher in his prime, it's still an impressive ranking considering his age.

"Durant was still great when he played last season, but a brutal Phoenix Suns season ended with Durant missing the last seven games with a sprained left ankle, canceling his award eligibility," Murray wrote.

"The only season that Durant has not missed at least 20 games since his 2019 Achilles tear was the 2023-24 season, when he appeared in 75 games. Now, Durant moves on to Houston for his age-37 season."

Sengun, on the other hand, may have improved his ranking after the season opener. Murray slotted him at No. 28 in Tier 4. It's promising to see another Rocket on the list, but perhaps the Turkish center proved he could be higher against the Thunder.

"Şengün starts off this tier by being the first player with only one All-Star selection and no All-NBA selections ranked," Murray wrote.

"That said, Şengün's star is rising, and he played a career-best 76 games while averaging a double-double and 4.9 assists for a Rockets team that made it back to the playoffs for the first time in five years. Şengün enters his age-23 season preparing to play center, but Houston is eager to have Şengün share the floor with other bigs as well."