Kyrie Irving might be reuniting with Kevin Durant. Let's look at the pros and cons
A new trade proposal has been circulating in the media. This trade proposal would bring Kyrie Irving to Houston in exchange for both Fred VanVleet and Reed Sheppard.
Although this potential trade does carry a lot of excitement as it reunites Kyrie Irving with Kevin Durant, it is important to see what benefits and detriments it would create.
The Houston Rockets certainly had some offensive struggles last season as the ball movement lacked fluidity and penetration. However, this was largely due to VanVleet suffering an ACL tear and missing the entire season.
When Fred VanVleet missed the entire 2025-26 season due to a severe ACL tear, Reed Sheppard stepped up to absorb a majority of his minutes. Playing in all 82 games, Sheppard averaged 13.5 points and shot 39.4% from three-point range, establishing himself as one of Houston’s most efficient perimeter shooters.
Sheppard also proved his value on the defensive end. He averaged 1.5 steals and 0.7 blocks per game, anchoring a solid 113.2 defensive rating that demonstrated his effective two-way play. Sheppard took a huge leap last year and continues to improve, giving his stock immense value as a young, promising star.
VanVleet is expected to be fully healthy and reclaim his role as Houston’s starting point guard for the upcoming season. He brings elite situational control and decision-making back to the floor, having finished 4th in the NBA with a 4.76 assist-to-turnover ratio in 2024-25, followed by a strong 3.73 ratio in 2025-26.
VanVleet's return will significantly boost the Rockets' offense. As the primary floor general, he addresses Houston's main weakness by increasing their perimeter volume, stretching defenses with his 6.7 three-point attempts per game and opening up wider driving lanes for his teammates.
VanVleet also has valuable playoff experience. VanVleet has played 59 career playoff games, including winning the NBA Championship in 2019 with the Toronto Raptors.
Kyrie Irving is great at breaking down defenses with his plethora of skills. Whether it's through dribbling, dishing dimes, or hot shooting, Irving seems to always find a way to be productive on the offense. However, he is now 34-years-old and recovering from an ACL injury.
Although at first glance matching Irving with Durant seems like a good idea, the uncertainty of how many years both of the players have left makes this trade a very big risk for the Rockets. Also, when the two of them played together in Brooklyn, there were severe chemistry issues both on and off the court.
Because of these detriments, this trade would likely be better for the Mavericks, as they are in their rebuilding phase. The risks and problems that Houston would take on, combined with the small amount of time that they would have to fix them, make the trade less viable. At this point, I would be very shocked if we see Irving join the Rockets before the end of next season.
