In the aftermath of the massive trade the Houston Rockets made for Kevin Durant, there are a hundred different angles about what the trade means — what it means to the team's title chances, what to means to fan enthusiasm, and what it means to the legacies of all involved, not the least of which is the legacy of Durant himself.
For me, one of the most meaningful themes coming out of the trade is the resurgence of the Houston Rockets as a destination for players to chase rings again. It's been a few years since that was the case. Over the last dozen or so years, the Rockets have had several former NBA All Stars join the team, some to chase rings and some as salary filler or role players in smaller trades and signings.
None of those players come in as decorated as Kevin Durant, who played in his 15th All Star Game last season. The next closest of the imports I'm referring to here would be Carmelo Anthony, who played all of 10 games for the Rockets in 2018-2019. For reference sake, here are the 10 former All Stars, who were brought in by the Rockets, either via trade or free agency, since 2013, grouped by role and impact:
One time All Stars
TYSON CHANDLER (1x All Star before Houston)
FRED VANVLEET (1x All Star before Houston)
These two guys were (and in the case of VanVleet, still is) two of the most high character guys to come through the door in the last several years. Each made just one All Star team, so they barely belong in this article, just based on the premise, but I'm glad they get a collective paragraph to acknowledge their "good guy" and leadership qualities.
Short time Rocket role players
JOE JOHNSON (7x All Star before Houston)
CARMELO ANTHONY (10x All Star before Houston)
BOOGIE COUSINS (4x All Star before Houston)
All three of these guys were not only short time Rockets, all here for one season or less (in the case of Anthony, just a few weeks), but barely contributors. The team got all three of these guys on their last legs, no pun intended for Cousins, who had suffered multiple lower extremity injuries by this time. We wished all of them well, but there were no scraps in our scrapbooks for any of these three. Durant, ironically, is older now than any of these three were when they because Rockets.
Contract pawns in rebuild deals
VICTOR OLADIPO (2x All Star before Houston)
JOHN WALL (5x All Star before Houston)
Oladipo had two runs with the Rockets. The first one was early in the Stephen Silas Era, when he was on his way down at the back end of his career. The second run was in a trade for Kevin Porter, Jr., after which he just kind of hung out in Houston until getting sent to Memphis in the Stephen Adams trade. John Wall was traded here for Russell Westbrook in 2021, and is best known for being paid $47 million to do nothing in 2021-2022. Not a bad gig, if you can get it!
Legit attempts at franchise changers
DWIGHT HOWARD (7x All Star before Houston)
CHRIS PAUL (9x All Star before Houston)
RUSSELL WESTBROOK (8x All Star before Houston)
These three are the closest comparisons to what the Rockets expect out of Durant. Howard signed here in 2013, after several All Star seasons in Orlando and one failed run on a super team with the Lakers. Howard wasn't bad in his three Rocket seasons, but the peak was a five game loss to the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals in 2015. Paul came here in 2017, and like Howard, peaked in a Western Conference Finals loss to Golden State, where a hamstring injury prematurely put Paul on the bench, and the Rockets lost in seven games. Finally, the Rockets traded Paul and a bunch of picks for Westbrook in 2019. Ironically, Paul in OKC turned out to be the better player after this trade. Westbrook was done after one season, while Paul made the All Star Game three more times in his career.
The one common theme with the three flame outs listed above — Howard, Paul, and Westbrook — is that all three got on the wrong side of James Harden, who the franchise allowed to do pretty much what he wanted for his entire nine year run here. If you got sideways with Harden between the years of 2013 and 2020, you were gone. Eventually, Harden got sideways enough with everyone in 2021 to where he just ejected himself and asked for a trade.
Needless to say, my hope is that the Kevin Durant Experience will supersede all of the runs as a Rocket from the players listed above. At least this time, if it doesn't work out, there won't be a massive rebuild on the other side of Durant's time here. This Rockets team is built to last. .
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