A Look at the Houston Rockets’ Small-Forward Room

The Houston Rockets’ small-forward room is composed of Kevin Durant, Tari Eason, and Bogdan Bogdanovic. Houston might not have the best small-forward room in the NBA, but I would say it is around the top 5.

Durant is one of the best forwards in the NBA and is a true legend of the sport. He is a very tough matchup for anyone; he even has the upper hand on Father Time (at least so far). Even though he is soon to be 38 years old, he is still putting up big numbers. Last season he averaged 26.0 points, 4.8 assists, and 5.5 rebounds per game.

We all know him for his elite offense and scoring ability, but this causes his defense to get overshadowed. Ime Udoka is a defense-first coach and uses a high-intensity switching scheme on defense. Durant’s length and high basketball IQ work very well under Udoka’s scheme. On top of anchoring rotations, Durant acted as a secondary rim protector, swatting 0.91 blocks per game last season.

Eason is the primary backup in the rotation, and a good one at that. The 25-year-old wing has emerged as one of the most disruptive defenders in the NBA by using a combination of high energy and elite defensive versatility.

Last season, Eason averaged 1.7 steals and .5 blocks per game off the bench, showcasing just how disruptive he really is. To add to that, he has a 2.8% career steal percentage, meaning that he personally stole the ball 2.8% of all opponent possessions. To put this into context, the average amongst wings is considered around 1.5%, and 2% is considered very high.

Eason’s length and high energy are also reasons that he is an elite rebounder, especially on the offensive glass. Out of the 6.3 rebounds per game that he averaged, 2.1 of those rebounds were offensive, which accounts for 33% of the total. Most players' offensive rebounds account for around 20-25% of their total rebounds, and Eason's 33% is a huge step up from the average.

Bogdanović will be the other small forward in Udoka’s player rotation. Houston signed him from free agency this summer. He was brought in to help improve the team’s perimeter shooting and to add another veteran presence that has playoff experience. Bogdanović has a 6-foot-11 wingspan, which allows him to work well with Udoka’s switching schematics, especially considering that he also plays shooting guard.

The trio of Bogdanović, Eason, and Durant gives Houston a very strong small-forward room. There are not many teams with a more versatile room at this position.