USA Today Ranks Rockets Kevin Durant as NBA's Third-Best Forward

This summer, the Houston Rockets finally managed to pull off the feat that they've been in pursuit of for years: reeling in a superstar. The Rockets had been linked to Joel Embiid (they're surely glad that never happened), Devin Booker (which was never going to happen), and Giannis Antetokounmpo (who does the same song and dance with the Milwaukee Bucks every offseason).

The team ultimately acquired Kevin Durant for a fraction of what he'd normally go for. And practically just half of what it would've costed to acquire any of the other players listed above.

The 37-year-old superstar has a ton of mileage, to be clear. He's been in the league for 19 years. It would be impossible not to.

And he's going to miss a chunk of games here and there. But he's still the same player. Just last season, he averaged 26.6 points (sixth in the NBA), six rebounds, 4.2 assists, two stocks, 52.7 percent from the floor, 43 percent from three (six attempts), 83.9 percent from the foul line, 59.8 percent effective true shooting (11th in the league), and 64.2 percent true shooting (12th in the NBA).

And played 62 games, at 36.5 minutes per night (sixth-most in the league).

Again, the man can still play. As he once coined it, "I'm Kevin Durant. You know who I am. Y'all know who I am."

Entering the 2025-26 season, USA Today's panel of NBA writers ranked the newly-acquired Rockets forward third-best at his position, behind the aforementioned Antetokounmpo and Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James. 

Their synopsis is below:

"Durant finished sixth in the NBA in scoring (26.6) and minutes (36.5) per game while he was a member of the Phoenix Suns, but he missed 20 games last season. He was also named an All-Star for the 15th time in his professional career. Now with the Rockets, he joins a team that should highlight his silky mid-range jumper with a coach in Ime Udoka who knows how to maximize Durant's unicorn skill set."

Durant has made it clear that he doesn't want his presence to stifle or stunt the growth of the Rockets' young guns. He'd rather figure out his place within the offense, which will be fairly easy for him to do.

He's one of the game's most efficient scorers. He doesn't need to shoot a ton to have a dominant scoring night.

His role will be a bit different for the Rockets this season, as he'll be tasked with more playmaking than he's grown accustomed to in recent years, due to the absence of Fred VanVleet, the Rockets' starting floor general. 

However, this should be no problem for Durant, who has always made the right reads and been able to find the open man.