The Houston Rockets were supposed to take the next step. Instead, they’re staring at another season slipping away.

After building around a young core, Houston made its boldest move yet by trading for Kevin Durant in the summer of 2025. The move cost them Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, and future assets.

The Rockets believed it was a win-win deal, and the season started in the worst possible way, after Fred VanVleet was ruled out for the season with an ACL injury before it even began. But that shouldn’t have been enough to derail their entire season.

Durant was expected to slot into Ime Udoka’s tough defensive setup and provide valuable scoring. Most importantly, Houston wanted to make sure that they were in a much better place than last season, when they bowed out in the first round of the playoffs.

That’s what makes this drop so glaring. After finishing No. 2 in the West last season, the Rockets have slipped from the No. 3 seed to No. 6 following a rough March stretch where they won just six of 13 games. Now, they sit only three games above the play-in line — far from the control they once had.

Even more concerning, six of their last seven losses have come against teams in the same playoff bracket as Houston, including suffering back-to-back home losses to the Lakers, whom they’ll meet if the current bracket remains this way. They have now turned a seemingly comfortable season into an uncomfortable one, and one player who always finds himself in these situations is Durant.

What’s Actually Going Wrong in Houston

Individually, Durant hasn’t been the problem. He’s averaging 26.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.5 assists. He is shooting 51.8% from the field, and on Saturday night against the Miami Heat, he pushed past Michael Jordan for fifth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Yet, the elephant in the room is that none of that individual brilliance is translating into team momentum. The Rockets are 8-8 in their last 16 games, and something feels off.

Since moving on from James Harden, head coach Ime Udoka has reshaped the team — starting with its defensive identity.

One of his major changes was establishing a defensive identity, and while that has made them a top-10 team in defensive rating, there are downsides. At 37, Durant is averaging 36.6 minutes per game and is expected to carry more than his share. It has put them at a disadvantage many times this season, with Durant himself stating that too much of the offense flowing through him makes their game plan stagnant.

VanVleet is out, and Sengun has been in and out of the lineup. For now, they’re forced to lean heavily on Durant.

Udoka was an assistant coach when Durant was with the Brooklyn Nets, but it seems that the Houston reunion hasn’t worked out yet.Durant’s teams have consistently dealt with off-court distractions, and the eventual unraveling often comes with it.

The situation reached its peak in early March, when a burner account suspected to be Durant’s posted a string of messages that included creative trash talk, which quickly crossed into ugly territory. He took shots at some of his teammates and added more noise to an already disappointing season. Durant denied any association with that burner account but still left the Rockets in a tough spot.

His off-court presence, whether through social media or past burner incidents, has become a recurring storyline with every team he’s joined since leaving the Golden State Warriors. In Brooklyn, it was the Kyrie Irving and Big Three circus. In Phoenix, Devin Booker’s presence did not elevate them enough. Now in Houston, it’s the same old story, one that Udoka may find difficult to manage, especially with Durant being his most-used player.

It will take a strong stretch of games and better health across the roster for Houston to steady itself. But with questions around fit, usage, and leadership still unresolved, the Rockets are heading toward a postseason that feels more uncertain than dangerous.