Kevin Durant’s arrival brings immediate gravity, but Alperen Şengün must bridge the generational gap to ensure Houston’s championship window stays open once the aging superstar steps back.
Who is the Houston Rockets’ number one offensive option? Kevin Durant, obviously, but what happens in a year? What’s the plan when the future Hall of Famer is a free agent next summer, then coming into the 2027-2028 season at 39 years old?
If he’s still on the Rockets at that time, I just think it would be a little ridiculous to ask him to lead a team in scoring. That doesn’t mean I doubt he could do it, I just don’t understand why that would be the plan.
Even the LA Lakers claimed that Anthony Davis would be the number one guy over LBJ by the end. That was honestly being said right after their 2020 championship, despite it taking Luka Doncic for LeBron to finally take a back seat.
Now Alperen Şengün should have time to become the number one guy, but will we see the same issues that Los Angeles had to endure?
Will Alpi be able to take the mantle and lead a team? Will Durant be able to step back into more of a supporting role? Will the rest of the team around those two All-Stars be able to fill in all of the gaps?
I’m not so sure. Obviously I couldn’t imagine Şengün getting traded for a generational talent in the lopsided trades that Nico Harrison cooked up, but something has to happen.
Whether it’s internal growth as a team, or trading for a true number one, the Rockets need a longterm solution.
