NBA: Oklahoma City Thunder Star Kevin Durant Will Not Sign With Houston Rockets

Kevin Durant’s season has officially come to an end. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Playoffs. The Thunder lost in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. Now, all the rumors are about to start swirling around Durant’s free agency. The former Most Valuable Player of the Year will have a tough decision this summer. Durant will be one of the most sought after players during the offseason. According to CBS Sports, the former Texas Longhorns star will not even consider joining his former Thunder teammate James Harden with the Houston Rockets next season.

The Oklahoma City Thunder selected Kevin Durant with the second overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. Since joining the National Basketball Association, the All-Star has built up an amazing resume. Durant won the Rookie of the Year Award. He won the Most Valuable Player of the Year Award in 2014. Durant has been voted into the All-Star game seven times in his career. He has been selected to five All-NBA First Team. Durant averaged 28.2 points, five assists, 8.2 rebounds, one steal, and 1.2 blocks per game.

Kevin Durant helped lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 55-27 record this season. The Thunder finished third in the Western Conference. In first round of the NBA Playoffs, the Thunder faced off against the Dallas Mavericks. They defeated the Mavericks in five games. In the Conference Semifinals, they faced off against the San Antonio Spurs. Durant and the Thunder defeated the Spurs in six games.

Now that the season is officially over, Kevin Durant’s offseason begins. Former teammates Durant and James Harden will be spending some time together this summer. The reunion between the two close friends isn’t expected to have a real impact on Durant’s free agency decision.

Some people believe that James Harden’s Houston Rockets are not a team Kevin Durant plans to consider when the free agency period begins. The Rockets have expressed for a while now that they were interested in signing the former Most Valuable Player of the Year winner.

There are plenty of reasons why Kevin Durant might not sign with the Houston Rockets. It makes zero sense for the All-Star to bring his talents to the Rockets. Their roster is a mess. Many people around the league believe that the Rockets’ chemistry and culture were horrible. They fired Kevin McHale and replaced him with Mike D’Antoni. The newly hired head coach’s main focus is offense. For the Rockets, their main problem was on the defensive end of the court.

Kevin Durant is expected to meet with a handful of NBA teams.

There are plenty of better teams in the National Basketball Association that will attempt to sign Kevin Durant this summer in free agency. Two teams that many people believe will go after Durant will be the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs. Both of those teams have won NBA Championships in the past couple years. Durant will be looking to sign with a team that can offer him a better chance of winning a ring.

Signing Kevin Durant would be a miracle for the Houston Rockets. Many people believe that Durant will return to the Oklahoma City Thunder on a two-year maximum contract, with a player option to become a free agent in the summer of 2017. That is the most likely scenario for him during free agency this offseason. Durant has stated that he wants to sign with a team that could help win an NBA Championship. The Thunder gives him that chance.

[Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images]