ESPN Insider Predicts Rockets in Western Conference Finals After Kevin Durant Trade

The Houston Rockets have been one of the most talked about NBA teams this offseason, and that’s primarily because they’ve added Kevin Durant to their roster. H-Town already had a young, talented core that nearly took down the Golden State Warriors in Round 1 of the playoffs earlier this year. With Durant in the mix, they’re widely expected to get over that line and go even further.

Tim Bontemps, who felt the Rockets did an ‘unbelievable’ job landing KD by giving up just Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks from their 24/25 roster, believes the Rockets can reach the Western Conference Finals. They finished No. 2 in the West last season and were strong defensively. It was offense where they fell short.

That’s where Durant’s brilliance comes into play. Calling him just good on the offensive end would be a disservice to his Hall of Fame career. Simply put, the two-time champ is one of the greatest scorers in league history, if not the greatest.

“That addition of Kevin Durant to the Rockets, a team that, as we saw in the Warriors series, is an exceptional defensive team, but struggled at times to score, particularly Jalen Green struggled at times,” stated Bontemps.

Well, Green is gone and KD is in. Bontemps highlighted this and pointed out that even at 36, Durant is still a superstar who can put points on the board. “To put Kevin Durant in, a guy who even at this stage of his career, is a 50-40-90 guy and a high 20s per game. He’s exactly the kind of piece they needed,” added the analyst.

Bontemps then predicted that Durant would lead the Rockets back to the Western Conference Finals, where they would face the team where his tremendous career began, the Oklahoma City Thunder. “We can very easily be seeing a Houston/Oklahoma City Western Conference Finals,” he said. If this does happen, the Rockets would have a tremendous hill to climb by going up against the defending champions.

What an exciting prediction this would be if it came true. Durant returning to OKC in a different uniform, in a series of that magnitude, would be electric. The ESPN panel agreed. “Imagine the atmosphere,” one of the analysts barked.

That is, of course, if the Rockets stay healthy. With no Green, they’ll have to rely heavily not just on Durant, but also on Fred VanVleet. Regardless, H-Town is going to be a franchise to keep an eye on. The 2025–2026 season can’t get here soon enough.

About the author

Joseph Galizia

Joseph is a Las Vegas based actor and circus performer. For the last seven years he's had the pleasure of covering sports for multiple outlets, including the Lifestyles section of Sports Illustrated. In that time, he's conducted over 50 interviews with athletes, filmmakers, and company founders to further cement his footprint in the journalism world. He's excited to bring that skillset to the SportsRush, where he'll be covering the NBA news cycle.

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