Why are the Rockets the biggest opponent of the defending champion next season?

No matter how ready the defending champion is to defend the title, no matter whether the Dallas Mavericks have the three No. 1 picks, no matter how much the Los Angeles Lakers strengthen the inside line, or whether the Denver Nuggets have a targeted position to improve the lineup and salary space are both optimized...

The West will once again stage a wild battle next season, and the West is so wild that it is never just a talk!

When the teams were preparing for the offseason and strengthening the arms race, the Houston Rockets had successfully completed the arms upgrade, and now everything is ready but the east wind is not available.

On June 22 last month, on the day Durant's old club Oklahoma City Thunder won the first championship in the team history, Durant also defended the clouds and saw the moon bright -

After experiencing a bleak season of more losses and less losses last season, the Suns successfully reached a one-for-eight deal with the Rockets that day. Durant got what he wanted and joined a team that is expected to win the championship!

It can even be said that this deal is enough to shake the league structure - the Rockets sent Jaylen Green, Dillon Brooks, this year's No. 10 picks and 5 second round picks, and finally successfully recruited Durant with eight for one.

In this way, the four-year silent Aerospace City ushered in a truly emperor superstar.

Rockets can be said to have used a superstar to replace Jaylen Green. This wave of signings was enough to make the team's head coach Stone successfully become the gods!

If Houston fans still have hope for Green and are still worried about his send-off, then compared with his data performance with Durant, this reluctance may immediately disappear!

In the first round of the playoffs this year, Jaylen Green averaged 31.4 points per game in 7 games, which is enough to show that the team has entrusted him with important tasks!

However, Green averaged only 13.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.3 blocks, and 1.4 turnovers, 0.9 fouls. How could such a miserable performance look like a star should be at the level?

In contrast, Durant averaged 26.6 points per game last season and still had a top-level shooting percentage of 52%, three-point shooting percentage of 43%, and his real shooting percentage was as high as 64%, which was so efficient. The Rockets undoubtedly won a great victory in the Durant trade, and the team perfectly strengthened the weakest link.

On the other hand, this reinforcement is based on the fundamental basis of not hurting the team -

After all, the Rockets did not pay any top young players or draft picks in this deal, and as for the second round pick, it is not worth mentioning.

In addition, the Rockets signed Finney Smith in 4 years, signed Capela back for 21.5 million in three years, and re-signed a more cost-effective and more controllable contract with Van Vlirie.

Finally, Jabbarry Smith Jr. was reasonably renewed and re-signed Jetty, Aaron Holiday, Jeff Green and others. The Rockets' lineup was thick enough to shake the defending champion Thunder.

When the war rekindled next season, all the Rockets' winning factors are available, including defense, rebounding, body shape, confrontation, youth, and even experience.

Of course, the team's greatest confidence in supporting the bottom line is Durant's unsolvable scoring ability, which is crucial when the stars in the playoffs are hard to solve!