The Houston Rockets have begun their 2026 offseason after being eliminated from the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs by the Los Angeles Lakers. The Rockets had a material personnel advantage, with the Lakers missing Luka Doncic for the entire series and Austin Reaves for the first four games, but still couldn’t get the job done against a team led by 41-year-old LeBron James.
The Rockets had multiple notable absences as well, none more so than Kevin Durant, who played in just one game of this six-game first-round matchup. While his injury was minor and shouldn’t be a concern heading into next season, the Rockets acquired the 37-year-old Durant in the summer of 2025 with the hopes of advancing beyond the first round, the same outcome they faced last season.
Fans and media expected the Rockets to take a huge step forward by adding a scorer of Durant’s caliber, but the reality has been different. As a result, Rockets GM Rafael Stone spoke to reporters in his postseason exit press conference about the expectation that Durant was a ‘championship or bust’ acquisition by the franchise, making it clear that this was never the internal expectation within the organization.
“With respect to bringing Kevin (Durant) in, that it was championship or bust – I never said that to him. I never said that to anybody. That is very much not our attitude. We thought he could be additive to the team, which he was. We thought he could be a wonderful example to the young guys on the team on how to work like a professional and really hone your craft, and I think he did a great job at that. That’s the thought process.”
Durant averaged 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.8 assists over the season for the Rockets.
Championships are usually not won in one season, so it’s fair to say Stone is telling the truth. This wasn’t a championship-or-bust season for the Rockets, especially with the team’s lack of trade activity despite knowing they’d be without their starting point guard (Fred VanVleet) for the entire season. They didn’t treat it as such at any point this season, which might also explain why they fell to a 3-0 series deficit against a Lakers team they were heavy favorites to eliminate.
There have been off-court situations that the Rockets have had to deal with, most notably, the leaks from Durant’s alleged burner account on X, where the forward shared extremely unfiltered thoughts on his teammates like Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr. It’s been reported that the Rockets never chose to discuss that situation in the locker room, so this might be an attempt by Stone to send a message about Durant being a good veteran that his teammates look up to.
Even though it’s correct to say this wasn’t a championship-or-bust season, it’s also dishonest to act like the team didn’t expect more than another first-round exit. At least they pushed the Golden State Warriors to seven games in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, and they didn’t even manage to make it to seven against the Lakers in 2026.
It doesn’t look like the Rockets will be giving up on Durant next season, giving them another year to try and contend with the legendary NBA forward. The franchise might not view the Durant era as championship-or-bust, but that might be the case for the soon-to-be 38-year-old forward who’ll enter his 19th NBA season in 2026-27.
