2025-26 schedule reaction and Kevin Durant extension rumors

Friday’s show with Ben DuBose and Paulo Alves features reaction to Houston’s newly released schedule for the 2025-26 NBA season, as well as recent rumors regarding Kevin Durant’s next contract and why it might not be finalized this offseason.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Cheers.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Rockets fans, Welcome to the Logger Line, an exclusive podcast
from the home of the Rockets, Sports Talk.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Seven ninety.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
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Speaker 1 (00:20):
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Speaker 2 (00:23):
Get Ready, Ready, Get Ready. The logger Line starts now.
Welcome aboard.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
Benzubo's here, Palo Alves there, Welcome into another episode of
the logger Line, as always served to you Curtsey of
Houston's Carbock Brewing. It's Friday, August fifteenth. It's usually the
dead period of the annual NBA off season, but this
week is the one slight exception because within the past
day we've gotten the full release of the twenty twenty
five to twenty six NBA regular season schedule, so we

(01:02):
now know virtually the entire eighty two games slate for
your Rockets. Still waiting on two more games that will
be determined based on NBA Cup results in November. Either
the Rockets advanced to the knockout stages as they get
a year ago, or there are two games added against
other teams from the Western Conference to be determined. But

(01:22):
eighty of the eighty two we now know who and
when the Rockets are going to be playing, starting with
a Ring Night opener October twenty first on the road
against the Oklahoma City Thunder, first time since twenty seventeen
that the Rockets have played on Ring Night. Actually won
that one out in Golden State. Ironically, it was Kevin
Durant who had a game winner that was a fraction late.

(01:43):
Tolman Furtida at his first game as owner, got to celebrate,
and the Rockets went on to have most successful season
in franchise history, sixty five and seventeen, best record in
the NBA by far. We know what happened with Chris
Paul's hamstring in the playoffs, but all in all, it
was a very good season. That the Rockets can be
even close to that good in this upcoming season, I
think we would all be thrilled without outcome, So hopefully

(02:05):
something similar happens on October twenty first at Oklahoma City.
It'll be Ring Night for the Thunder. Katie being back
in that gym always brings back memory, so hopefully he's
able to go out there and have a big game
for the Rockets and what will be his Houston debut.
Then October twenty fourth. That Friday is the home opener
against Detroit, the Thompson Twins battle between the Men and

(02:27):
a Sar. So there's a lot to look forward to
this upcoming season. We've been hyped ever since the Kevin
Durant trade because the Rockets are in the top tier
of NBA contenders, and Paolo my biggest takeaway when I
look at this schedule, I'm sure we'll get into some
of the micro as far as you know, it's very
road heavy to start the year, home heavy on the

(02:47):
back half, and we're going to do a draft as
this episode progresses of our favorite games, so that will
be something of a ranking of what you should most
look forward to, both home and away games. But I
want to start with just general thoughts and takeaways, and
I think it's those spotlight games I mentioned Ring night.

(03:09):
It's the first time since twenty seventeen that the Rockets
have been on that stage. They're playing Christmas Day at
the Lakers, the first time since twenty nineteen. They have
twenty eight nationally televised games. A year ago it was three.
It is the biggest rate of increase in the entire NBA.
The only teams with more nationally televised games are the

(03:32):
Thunder because they just won the championship, the Lakers and
Knicks because they're the two biggest markets and irrelevant, and
the Warriors because of Steph. Those are the only four
teams in the entire league with more nationally televised games
than the Rockets, a team that the last two years
had zero and three at this point going into the season.

(03:52):
Now there is flex scheduling, so some of these games
potentially can be smopped out at a later date. But
what I do think this shows you right now is
just how much anticipation there is for this particular Rockets team.
And it's not just here in Houston, and so is
it superficial perhaps, But for me, powow, it feels great
to see that level and feel this level of validation

(04:15):
that externally around the league. It's TV partners because they're
in the business of frying eyeballs, and for the Rockets,
the majority of these nationally televised games are in the
second half of the year. For these games to pan
out as a networks hope, the team needs to be winning,
the team needs to be relevant, and so we talk locally,
diehards like us about how excited we are for this

(04:36):
season ever since the Kevin Durant trade, really even before that,
because the Rockets is coming up with fifty two to
thirty season, number two in the West, fourth best record
in the NBA. But now to have that external validation.
Sure it might be superficial, it might not be that
meaningful at the end of the day in terms of,
you know, big picture, what the Rockets are building. We

(04:56):
should have already known that the Rockets are here, but
this national TV slate and these spotlight games, it's a
huge sense of external validation that people around the league
and really around the world know the Rockets have something
cooking here. And even if it's superficial, I think it's fun.
I mean, fandom isn't supposed to be rational. There are

(05:17):
some superficial elements, and so for me, I'm taking a
little bit of a victory left that it feels like
the Rockets are finally one of the big boys again.
Unlike the last couple of years. This is not a
tryhard team Bilton around and Emo Judoka getting guys to
just scrap and claw and give everything they can defensively.
Sure they'll still do that at least we hope they will,
but this is a team going in that has championship expectations,

(05:39):
or at least aspirations. I don't want to say they're
the favorite with the thunder around, but just to see
that external validation, it's fun. It feels like the Rockets
have officially arrived. Perhaps they already had as soon as
they made the trade for Kevin Durant, but right now, Paolo,
it just feels like more confirmation that the Rockets going
into this season are what we thought they were coming
off with the Kevin Durant raid. What were your thoughts

(06:01):
when you first looked at that schedule this afternoon, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (06:05):
People tell us and I was reading on readit the
other day. People running to gaslight everyone and everybody into
thinking that Katie is not that guy anymore. And I
think this just shows you that the people who have
the most to gain from getting these things right. I
think that the Rockets are going to be good and
they're going to be one of the teams that people
are going to want to watch the most. And it's
pretty easy logic. If you take the best defenses in

(06:28):
the league, a team that got to the two seed
in the West by defending and rebounding, and they swapped
out their was starter for well the best guy at
doing what that starter was in the starting lineup to
do with his card. So it makes all the sense
in the world. The team, obviously they're not they are

(06:49):
not having to overachieve as much this season because they
have KD. But if they want to be successful, they
can't lose any edge on what they have last season
as as a defense, defensive team and as a rebounding team.
But just looking at the schedule, what differs from this
year to last year to the year before is that
you really start to understand how good your team is

(07:11):
when you look at the schedule and you look and
you try to figure out what games are you supposed
to lose or you can lose, and what games you're
supposed to win, And when you've done this podcast, probably
I don't if I don't even know if we started
with when scheduleed dropped two years ago. It's been all
the time. But if you go back and you look
at our reactions, I think there will be a lot

(07:33):
different this time goes on. I think I can remember
perfectly last year we were unsure about how the season
was going to go. We obviously were optimistic. But now
looking at the schedule this season, you just see, or
at least I look at it, and I'm saying, hey,
there's besides Okay, see and maybe Denver. There are not

(07:55):
a lot of teams out there. We shouldn't be favored
the games. And even again still case and a game Stanver,
I would give us a conflict chance at any of
these games. And so just looking at I'll talk about
the first twenty four games, which is what kind of
jumped out to me. Yes, it's very away, you know,
game heavy, but when you look at it, you're seeing

(08:16):
I'm looking at twenty four games with a bunch of
teams we should beat, and then some teams that I
give a little bit of a cheance of beating us,
and that would be okay see Detroit, Orlando, Cleveland and
whoever we draw at twenty two. In at game planning
tw game planning through which are the NBA Cup extra games.

(08:38):
This to say, even against those teams, I would expect
us to go five hundred. But obviously you also lose
games against some of the Toronto's and the Bostons of
the world, and the Brooklyn Knights of the world. Sometimes
you just don't have it going. But I would expect
us to start those twenty four games and go like
twenty and four. I think that's a sensible prediction. And

(08:58):
if they managed to do that, they that kind of
sets the expectations, and that's that's the level that they
want to play at for the next you know, ten
games where it's a little bit of a tougher slate
with the Clippers, the Lakers, Denver playing Denver again, you know,
some tougher games. But my overall, like overarching theme is

(09:20):
there's not a lot of teams I'm looking at that
I'm not expecting to beat from the get go, and
I think that's the perfect telltale sign that it's air contender.
I think we should, as I said, we should be
expected to beat every team besides okayc and Denver and
the games Okaysey and Denver. We should be expected to
put up a fight of a little devery. And just
as I didn't last year, DeAndre Aighten doesn't change that.

(09:42):
I'm not buying the Lakers. They just don't fit together well.
They don't have an inside presence. Just don't see it
with them and the Clippers, to me, are not going
to be a regular season team, but going to be
a playoff team because of how old they are and
so we should be expected to pick them. And then
besides those eyes, it's a lot of tanking teams. I

(10:02):
don't buy Phoenix at all. I think there'll be a
lottery team, Dallas Cooper five's too young, Sacramento not even
gonna talk about them, New Orleans the same thing. Obviously,
Teams like Toronto, I don't think they're going to be good.
Boston's supposed to be good, but without Jason Tatum, I
don't think that, and all the traits that they've made,

(10:23):
I think there'll be a decent team. They'll be a
playoff team, but not necessarily a contender. Brooklyn's tanking Memphis
to proper fight, but obviously not in the same tier.
San Antonio. I would have protected them to make a
bigger jump. But when you have Stephan Castle and Dylan
Harper are going to take a large chunk of your
guard minutes. We've seen it with all rebuild. Young guards

(10:46):
don't come into the league playing winning basketball. Stephan Castle
was as far away from it as it could possibly
be last season and Dylan Harper's going to come into
his rookie season and love the prospect. But point guards
just don't contribute to inning year one. So San anton
should be primed to make a step up. I'm not
sure they will because heavy guard minutes two young guys.

(11:06):
Charlotte stanking New York is to me not that much
of a thread, just too much of an offensive team.
They even got rid of THEBS. I don't know how
that's gonna go. Just don't love them. Utah is thanking,
Miami just not competitive. Orlando is has a shout. I
guess now with Bain Washington's stanking Golden State doesn't scare me.

(11:27):
I know I'm probably be biting myself on that, but
Goms doesn't really scare me. The reason we weren't able
to beat them was basically whether or not hill And
could score or not. And well we've replaced him with KD.
Portland's thanking uh twenta. I don't buy their upgrades, just

(11:48):
affortabil team around Tree young. Chicago's if not sanking close
to it. Milwaukee always has Yannis, but well they don't
have anything else besides Yannis, so I guess they'll be
playoff team, but not really a threat Philadelphia maybe, but
when you have Paul, George and Joel and be taking
up like one hundred million, one hundred and twenty million

(12:10):
of your cap space stuff to build a winning team
around that. Oh, I guess I forgot Minnesota. Minnesota is
also one of the teams, but we don't play them
up until what the second half of the season, which
is kind of crazy because I see them as one
of our biggest threats.

Speaker 1 (12:25):
But we'll get.

Speaker 3 (12:25):
Into my favorite games as we go into the draft mode.
But that those are my main takeaways just looking at
the schedule. It's how far we've come, not only as
far as the nationally televised games, but just looking at
the schedule and seeing what teams I expect to beat
and what teams I expect to be tough. I think
it's very star contrast from what we saw at well here.

Speaker 1 (12:46):
Yeah, and speaking of the national TV I should have
pointed out off the top eleven. If those twenty eight
are on either NBC or ABC the over the air
networks in the US, including that opener at Oklahoma City,
it will be the first NBA on NBC telecast in
more than twenty three years. If that tells you anything
about just how much the Rockets are seen as a

(13:08):
top tier draw both for basketball and business purposes, and
in this case, there's a lot of overlap there. Yeah,
I'm largely in agreement with you on the fact that
the road heavy start to the year isn't as difficult
as it would seem at first glance, most notably because
of the teams, but also I think you catch a
break in there with the back to backs are lack thereof.

(13:30):
So the Rockets have fourteen back to backs this year,
but they don't have any until November thirtieth and December first,
and both of those games are in Utah. So when
you look logistically and how it sets up, especially early
in the year, yeah, there's a lot of road games,
but they are spaced out, and really that's the theme
we see all season long. Off those fourteen backs to backs,

(13:51):
which are slightly below the league average, eight of them
have no travel in between. A ninth is going from
Houston to Dallas, and of the eight, both are in Houston.
So I think it's important to underscore that when we
talk about back to backs, it's never easy, but what
makes it really difficult is when you have to finish

(14:12):
a game. You know, by the time the game is
over and everybody showers and you get to the airport
and then you hop on a flight, fly in the
middle of the night to another location, and then you
go from that airport to your hotel room, and by
the time you're turning out the lights, oftentimes it's four am,
and you're not getting anywhere near a full night's sleep

(14:34):
before the day that culminates with the next night's game.
So that's why back to backs are so difficult. And
the fact that eight really nine have basically no travel
in between that really limits the impact and makes them
not as difficult as you would think. So really we're
talking about out of eighty two games, just five or six,

(14:56):
because even the two NBA Cup add ons whether the
Rockets advance or they're just filler regular season games, those
aren't going to be back to backs. So furteam that
is a little bit older and has a thirty seven
year old Kevin Durant as its centerpiece, or at least
one of its centerpieces, the Rockets got a pretty good
draw with back to backs, and so I think that
will help them early in the year. There are a

(15:16):
lot of back to backs in the second half of
the year eleven from January fifteenth until the end of
the season, but that's when you have a lot of
games at home. So I think a lot of the
back to back considerations are mitigated when you're able to
go home and sleep in your own bed between the
first and second games. And obviously the Rockets do have options. Certainly,
Steven Adams can be load managed with clunk Capella. That

(15:36):
was a big part of the thinking there. So I
think it's a good draw for the Rockets. And the
other thing that you might have to worry about a
little bit with those road games, what if things don't
go well, What if Kevin Durant or Men Thompson, god forbid,
turns an ankle early on and before you know it,
thinks snowball because you don't have the easy games at home,

(15:58):
just sort of fatten up on well. For one reason
or another, the Rockets aren't close to that twenty and
four mark that you threw out, Paolo. The Rockets to
me seem like a pretty strong team mentally in that
in your three of b mea Udoka, they do what
they do, they know foundationally who they are they have
an identity. Even the Kevin Durant addition. As you said, Paolo,

(16:20):
it's basically just plugging Kevin Durant into the Jalen Green
roll from last year. Now, there's going to be a
few tweeks here there. Obviously Katie is a better player.
But the point is Katie individually, I think he certainly
knows at thirty seven years old what he needs to
do to be successful, and for the Rockets collectively as
a group, I don't think it's going to be a
radical change. By and large. They're bringing back the team

(16:41):
they had a year ago that finished number two in
the West, and you're just getting a more consistent version
of Jalen Green in that premetor alpha slot with Kevin Durant.
So I think the fact that the Rocket's going into
the season with a lot of continuity, a lot of
self belief, your three of b mea Udoka, they're going
to open up the playbook even more and adding more
veterans like Kevin duran it helps you do that because

(17:03):
there's a higher collective team IQ. I just think even
if things don't get off to a good start for
one reason or another, this is a team that's equipped
to stick with it and it isn't going to get
buried in a cycle of self doubt. And then conversely,
a lot of home games to finish the year fourteen

(17:23):
of your last twenty two. I like that because I
think we saw in last season's NBA there was carryover
between the final few weeks of the regular season and
the playoffs. You look at the West, the Warriors had
to go full thrittle from early February onward after they
acquired Jerry Butler the trade deadline. We saw how that
worked out against the Rockets Minnesota as a team. You
mentioned them Powlow. They got hot late in the year

(17:44):
after being a little sluggish for long stretches, after making
right before training camp the Karl Anthony talents for Julius
Mandel trade. We saw in the East, the Pacers and
Tyrese Haliburt and specifically had a slow start to the year.
Then from January first onward, I think they had the
second best record in the league behind the thunder. Not
everybody expected a ton from them in the playoffs because
they were looking at the overall record and see which

(18:06):
I believe was sports or fifth. But if you looked
at the final few weeks and months leading into the playoffs,
they were a different group, and so I do think
there's some carryover. One thing that you know, this is
super micro, but I do think the Rockets basically not
taking the final three games of last regular season seriously
because they had locked up the two seed and two
of them were on the road, I do think there

(18:28):
was a bit of a carryover into that terrible Game
one performance against the Warriors, where they looked just totally
discombobulated offensively. So the fact that the Rockets have all
these home games late in the year, including a three
game homestand to finish out, Yeah, I think even if
the Rockets are dominant throughout the season the way we hope,
I do think there's something to be said for playing

(18:51):
your best ball in March and especially April and having
a carryover effect. I do think that's real. I think
we saw it throughout the NBA in these past playoffs,
and so I think the schedule puts the Rockets on
course to do that. There are no guarantees, but I
love the way it sets up. However, before we move
to individual games and the draft, let's make predictions. What
are you thinking as far as an overall win number

(19:14):
for this season looking at the draw that they got.

Speaker 3 (19:18):
So I've called me crazy bernight listen, I kind of
I mark the games that I think are you know,
risk here right? Basically, I marked every game I think
we have a champce of well, that's kind of that
sounds kind of over zealous. I marked every game in

(19:41):
which I can see that the other team dangerous enough
for us to be able to lose any being okay
with it. So I didn't mark the contenders. I marked
teams that I like, and I didn't mark the Knicks,
but I marked Orlando Clippers, okay, see Detroit Cleveland, and
then them were in the teams I don't know if
I'm if. I said the Towy late teams twice oh

(20:02):
in Minnesota. So I marked all the games against those teams,
and it added up to twenty games. And then you
have the two extra games from the NBA pickup, which
could be or could not depending on how we do,
could be better teams or worst teams. Those are two games.
I think that adds up to twenty two or twenty
three games. So I think it's reasonable to say sixty

(20:24):
winks and I do not know that. When the season
comes along, you know, unexpected losses happen. But if we
look at losing every single one of these games against
good teams and winning all of the others, it would
be sixty wins. And then assuming we win against some
of the good teams and we lose against some of

(20:45):
the bad teams. I think that's around the number. And
so I even think that sixty wins is somewhat missing
the order. It's it's someone conservative, somewhat conservative to go
with sixt years. I think we could win more.

Speaker 1 (20:59):
You like the six, So I've been seventeen template that
I referenced earlier is doable.

Speaker 3 (21:03):
I think if we are healthy, I think if we
remain with that intensity that we have, I think that's freakable.
But if I were to put money on it, I
would probably go with the round sixtywo wins, And I
think that sounds better as a take. So I'll go
with sixty wins, but I would not be surprised if
it were more.

Speaker 1 (21:20):
As far as.

Speaker 3 (21:21):
If is disappointing if we win less than sixty, well,
although I'm expecting us to win sixty, what really matters
is once the playoffs come around how we do. So
I would obtously rather a fifty three win season going
to the Western Rumpus Finals versus a sixty wins season
when you're out in the second round. But I do

(21:42):
think that sixty wins is attainable as long as we
can keep the energy level throughout the entire season, because
I really do think there's a lot of teams this
year that are pushovers, especially when you consider that some
teams just don't have a superstar. There's a lot of
guys out there with season ending injuries. Already theman Lillard's out,

(22:02):
so the Butts are weaker. Hollybuton's out, so the Pacers
are weaker. Tatum's out, so the Celtics are week That's
like what six seven games all of a sudden that
in a normalst season will be fifty to fifties that
in this season are more than likely to just wins
for US. So I do think at Tangay's we could
this upcoming season then it was last season. But I

(22:23):
do think that sixty w is at tainable. I'm gonna
set my predictions.

Speaker 1 (22:33):
So if you'd asked me a few days ago whether
I was going over or under, on the Rockets win total,
which I believe most books have at either fifty four
and a half or fifty five and a half. I
was leaning under because one of the other lessons I
had from last season, it really feels like a home
court advantage, and the data shows this isn't as important

(22:54):
in the NBA playoffs as it used to be. You
certainly want to be in the top six, so you
don't have to go through the randomness of the play
in tournament, but once you get to the playoffs, and
Steve Kurse theory, and I think this makes a lot
of sense, is that because teams are shooting threes at
more volume these days, there's more variance, there's more shot
luck good or bad, And in that sense, you know

(23:16):
there's something to be said for role players shooting better
at home. But by and large, you can have a
good night on the road, you can have a bad
night at home, as we saw the Rockets had in
Game seven as the two seed, where they couldn't make
a lot of shots. Although part of the problem in
that Game seven against the Warriors they couldn't generate enough threes.
The entire offense broke down with Jalen Green struggles at
the forefront of the list. As far as the reasons why,

(23:39):
if you had asked me a few days ago, I
would have said, with the Rockets having an older team
and guys like Kevin and Fred bin Fleet and Steven Adams,
that they really need to load manage late in the
year to make sure they're healthy in the playoffs. I
would have said that it wouldn't shock me to see
them pull back on the throttle a little bit, have

(23:59):
a few rest days here and there, especially in March
and April, and that deflate the record to certainly not bad,
but maybe fifty three fifty four wins to where they're
just under even if the talent level is something of
a sixty win team. However, I love the way this
schedule sets up. It's as friendly of one as I've

(24:21):
seen in all my years covering the NBA relative to
the way a team is built. And the biggest factor
that I want to hit home here, so the scheduling formula.
Every year, you play teams in the Eastern Conference twice
each and you play most teams in your same conference,
in Houston's case, the West four times. However, if you

(24:44):
played every West team four times, just do the math
fifteen or fourteen times four because you can't play yourself.
But fourteen times four fifty six and then the thirty
games against the fifteen East teams, you'd have an eighty
six game schedule. You're obviously going to play eighty two.
So there are some team in the West that you
only play three times, and it rotates every year. There's

(25:06):
just a formula, and from one year to the next,
who you play three times typically changes other that I
think you always play teams in your division four times. Anyway,
the six teams the Rockets are currently scheduled to base
only three times, the Thunder, the Nuggets, the Timberwolves, the Lakers,

(25:28):
the Clippers, and the Warriors. That's a who's who plow
of other contenders in the West. That is an incredible draw.
There's no Blazers, there's no Jazz. There's not even a
mediocre team like the Kings. These are six contenders that
the Rockets are only going to play three times instead
of four, or currently are scheduled to play only three times. Now,

(25:50):
with that said, there are two games to be added
in the NBA Cup and those are likely to be difficult.
You could play a team from that group if you advance,
because you're not going to play in each corn conference
team until the final, or more realistically, if you don't advance,
and the Rockets do have a pretty difficult NBA Cup
group with the Nuggets, the Warriors, the Spurs, and the Blazers,

(26:13):
and the Rockets may not take the Cup as seriously
this year as they did last year when they did advance,
because obviously this team is much more mature and it's
developmental cycle, that much more secure themselves, so they're no
longer the young team is going to play dispportunately hard
in Cup games. Well, if they don't advance in the Cup,
then the two add on games are generally taken from

(26:34):
those same conference opponents that you play only three times.
So the odds are of that six team list, two
are going to get added on to your December schedule,
and hopefully the Rockets are able to withstand it. They
do have a ton of road games in December, so
that's one thing I'm sort of keeping a watchful eye on.
But even if just zooming out looking at the macro,

(26:55):
even if you add two of those six to the schedule,
the four teams that you don't play being from that OKC, Denver, Minnesota,
Golden State, and the two LA squads to only play
them three times and to get four games against the
bottom feeders, the Blazers, the Jazz, the Kings potentially could
be a bottom feeder as well. That's a real break

(27:18):
for the Rockets. And so you combine that with a
friendly set up for the back to backs fewer than
the league average, way more back to backs with no
travel in between. In the league average, the Rockets had
eight basically nine if you count no travel on that
thirty minute flight from Houston to Dallas. The average in
the NBA back to backs without travel in between four

(27:39):
point nine. So the Rockets have fewer back to backs.
They have way fewer back to backs than normal when
you consider the really harsh ones to travel and the schedule.
I don't think Tankathon is updated yet their strength of
schedule metric, but I feel pretty confident that the Rockets
are going to be at the bottom of the Western
Conference when it comes to the weakest schedules. Obviously, they

(28:00):
can't play themselves, and then these teams that aren't on
their schedule four times right now, that's a huge break.
And so it's to where if if I was at
fifty three fifty four wins before and I look at
this both who they're only going to play three times
and the back to back that's nudged me to I'll
say fifty seven. I'm not going to be as bullish

(28:22):
as you are in say sixty, because I do think
they're going to be creative with load managing Kevin in
particular down the stretch, and there might be some bumps
early in the year. They're trying to integrate some new pieces,
YadA YadA, but this is a very friendly schedule. There's
plenty of spotlight games. Don't get me wrong. I think
man I was talking to some people today, it's going

(28:43):
to suck that we don't have Craig, Vanessa and Ryan
as much as we're used to because a lot of
these national games they have the maximum of fifteen national
TV exclusives as opposed to the last couple of years
it's been like zero or two. So we're not going
to have our favorites the way were you two. But really,
NBA schedules are pretty damn similar from team to team,

(29:04):
like for the most part, everybody's playing the same teams.
It just depends on do you have any super long
home stands or road trips, do you have an insane
amount of back to backs? Who do you draw three
times instead of four? Just little things like that. Well,
the Rocket's got a huge break in terms of who
they drew three times instead of four. They got a

(29:25):
pretty good break when it comes to the back to
back data. And then the spotlight games they're gonna be
on national TV. I mean, honestly, those are games you're
gonna play no matter what against top opponents. It's just
because the Rockets are considered top themselves. Now those are
gonna be on national TV. And so the schedule is
not really any more difficult. It's just gonna feel like
it's more difficult because you're on NBC and you're on

(29:45):
ABC much more frequently, in saying, the top tier national
guys instead of your local team. So it's gonna feel different.
But in terms of the actual result and what it
means for the schedule in front of you, this is
a pretty favorable one. And so I'm quite bullish on
what the Rockets are going to be able to do,
even as someone that a few days ago was leaning

(30:06):
to the under. That's my thoughts as far as just
overarching on the season as a whole, powers or anything
else you wanted to add before we turn our attention
to drafting some individual matchups.

Speaker 3 (30:17):
I was just gonna test on the NBA Cup. I mean,
by my my trick, the only team that is a
threat in our group is Denver. So not that's of
a group because I expect this to win it really game.

Speaker 1 (30:29):
I'm still traumatized by the Warriors.

Speaker 3 (30:30):
That bear out it's we sleep the season series.

Speaker 1 (30:35):
I will say if they win that game against the Warriors,
and this can be our transition to the draft. If
they go into Golden State that first game on November
twenty sixth and win, knowing what the Rockets did in
that same building in Game six against elimination and the
game the final week of the regular season that they

(30:57):
wanted to basically clinch the two seed, I think a
lot of that fear of the Warriors is going to
go away. I think obviously the Rockets lost the series,
but it was extremely competitive. They grew up and matured
as it went along. And then with Kevin Durant, if
you go into that Golden State game and take care
of business, it's going to feel like that even if well,

(31:18):
I shouldn't say if there certainly was a mental hole
that Golden State had over this franchise for a while.
But if you go in there and take care of
business in that game, along with the growth we saw
in the playoffs and obviously the addition of Kevin Durant,
I'm not going to say the Warriors are just an afterthought,
but they're no longer a team you think about where
you say, oh God, here we go again. No, I

(31:40):
think it's an opportunity that game, which will be the
final of a group stage play and the NBA Cup,
is an opportunity to prove that you have put some
of that baggage behind you, if you will. All right,
let's turn our attention to ranking the season, and the
way ranking the games of the season that is, and
the way we're going to do this is with a

(32:01):
draft in which Polo and myself make one pick per
five rounds, and we're going to alternate. Pollo, I'll let
you make the first pick. And the idea here is
to take logistics out of the mix. So for purposes
of this exercise, pretend we both have teleportation devices, so
you don't have to worry about time off work, a flight,

(32:23):
a hotel. You can enjoy it in Houston with Rockets fans.
You can enjoy a road game and see the Rockets
win in a hostile environment. It's just if logistics aren't
a factor, where would you want to be? What are
the games that really pop that you have circled on
your calendar? So, Pollo, I came up with this exercise.
I've got some ideas. So it would almost be like

(32:45):
cheating if I went first, because I've been thinking about
it longer. So I'll let you go first if you
could be at one game this year. And one addendum,
we are not going to draft the opener in Oklahoma
City or the home open against the Pistons because those
are just too obvious. Everybody wants to see Kevin Durant
in his first game in Toyota Centers of Rocket, and

(33:07):
obviously the first game period back in Oklahoma City is
old stopping grouse. Those are too easy. So excluding the
first two games of the season, the overall opener and
the home opener, what's your pick among the other eighty?
Polow Okay, so.

Speaker 3 (33:23):
I think my first pick is in this I might
be cliche, But listen, I'd been to one NBA game
against the Hawks, so the closest thing to a superstar
that I've watched is Roy Young. So I'm going to
go with Christmas game at the Lakers so I can.

Speaker 1 (33:41):
Watch school Brook. Yeah, that's a good pick because honestly,
it would have been stunning if anybody didn't pick that first.
Besides the storyline of the Christmas holiday and lebron James
and Luca. You don't know how many lebron kd games
are really left where both are healthy and playing at

(34:01):
a high level. Well, we hope they're healthy, but assuming
they are, that's one where both guys in that spotlight
the seven pm ABC game are going to be going
all out and it's really fun. It's been the best
individual rivalry of this generation of NBA basketball, and this
is a sport that's defined by individual rivalries. So yeah,
I agree with you, that's the easy choice. My first

(34:24):
one is going to be February twenty first, a Saturday
at New York. I think the atmosphere at Madison Square
Garden is as good as it gets. And this is
a Saturday ABC Primetime game right out of the All
Star break, so both teams should be relatively healthy having
about ten days off going in. It's an eight thirty

(34:47):
local time start, so the crowd's going to be extra
juiced ABC New York. I don't think the Knicks are
as good as the Rockets, but they are a contender,
especially in a weak Eastern conference, and when the Knicks
are relevant, that atmosphere is incredible. We know when Shames
Harden was here, even when the Knicks had bad teams,

(35:09):
those MSG games were ones that he clearly highlighted. I
believe that's where he had his career high sixty one
during the Unguardable Tour, and that was with a bad
Knicks team. Now we're talking about a good Knicks team.
And when you are in the West, the other conference,
you only get one game at Madison Square Garden per year.
I think this is one that the thirty seven year
old Kevin Durant is going to have circle because he

(35:31):
doesn't know how many more opportunities he's going to have
to play in the Mecca of basketball at full health.
He should be very arrested coming off the All Star break.
So yeah, I'm taking February twenty, first Saturday, Rockets Knicks
at MSG. That's my first pick. Powell will go to
round two. You get the first pick again.

Speaker 3 (35:49):
Yeah, So I have a few ideas here, but my
next to anxiety, Ah, it's tough. I'm not gonna spoil
with my other will be I'm just gonna go for it,
and I'm gonna take the other national TV game we
have with an LA team, so against the Quippers, the

(36:11):
game before Christmas, the twenty third of the game. Because listen,
I want to watch hard I want to watch Kauai.
I'm already in LA, So I guess that's gonna be
my next one because I also have never watched Harder
Than Live, and I know he's not the harder than anymore,
but that should be a really fun game as well.

(36:32):
So I'm hoping. I'm thinking this because I think this
might be one of the ones that you're considering next.
So either, even though there's other things on my mind
right now.

Speaker 1 (36:43):
In real life, you will hate that game. It is
a ten PM Central start, so I think that will
be four am for you. It is the latest start
time in the history of the Rockets franchise because as
part of this new this new TV deal that the
NBA set up with all of its partners, NBC has
games that start at eleven pm Eastern, which is crazy.

(37:04):
The idea is to make it eight pm on the
West Coast. So that's going to be a brutal one
in real life, but for purposes of this, where you
have a teleportation device and you don't have to worry
about work or sleeping, Yeah, I agree with you. That's
going to be fun, especially because it's the only game
they play this season at the intu at Dome. That's
the Clippers. That is one of the three, one of
the six teams that you're only going to play three times.

(37:26):
So that makes that game in LA even more meaningful
because two of the three are in Houston. The Clippers
have a back to back leading into the All Star
Break in Houston in early February. All Right, my next pick,
I'm going to go nationally televised Thursday, January fifteenth at
home versus the Thunder. Nobody's picked a game in Houston
yet I want to pick that one because I think

(37:46):
it's a really good opportunity. I mean, any game against
the Thunder is good to see how you stack up
against the NBA's best, but when you look at those
matchups last year. So the Rockets went two to three
against the Thunder, the fifth game being that NBA Cup
one that they lost in Las Vegas, But the Rockets
actually went to to zero against the Thunder in Houston,
and I really want to see if that translates this year.

(38:08):
As the schedule is currently set up, that OKAC game
on the fifteenth of January is the only time they'll
visit Houston. The reason I'm curious about it the Thunder
are a very unique team in how they play. They're
very dependent on obviously getting to the line a lot
and start SGA grifting comment. Conversely, the Rockets are dependent
on being able to defend physically. I've got a little

(38:30):
bit of a theory that the Rockets in Houston get
to play a little bit more bully ball in terms
of the perimeter guys being handsy with the Thunder all
per inching goon getting to stuff Chet Holmgren in a
locker a little bit. I want to see if the
Rockets look really good against the Thunder in Houston again,
because if they do, it's an advantage that might translate

(38:52):
to the playoffs, and it could also make if the
Rockets are able to be in play for the number
one seed, which it sounds like Powell you think they
might be. It could make it, you know, to where
maybe you think a little bit harder about aggressively going
after the one and having home court advantage against the
Thunder if you consistently play well against them in Houston.
So it's always good to see how you stack up

(39:13):
against the best. But I am sort of curious after
as well as the Rockets played against the Thunder in
Houston last year, if they do it again in the
one meeting in Houston this season, that's where I might
start to think, Hey, there's something to the idea that
maybe it's how the games are officiated, maybe it's any
number of factors, but the Thunder just don't play that

(39:33):
well in Houston and that could have some interesting ripple
effects down the line. So yeah, that's my pick. January fifteenth,
Thunder at Rockets hollow you up again.

Speaker 3 (39:44):
And this is really tough. I kind of regret picking
the Clippers game. I I kind of don't. It's just
there's a lot of teams that I want to watch
and that i'm in. I basically there's four teams there's
five teams I want to watch and I only have
tweet bitswift. So next one I'm gonna take is, well,
I know, I'm going to assume you're not gonna take
another OKC game, so I'm gonna save that for later,

(40:05):
and I'm gonna take a Minnesota game. And this is
tough because obviously national TV games are better, and there's
one in Houston right after that Okay Sea game, but
it's at the back end of a bactive back, which
makes it rough because if it's like if it's the
same as we saw last season, we struggle in those.
So the question is, rather it not the national television

(40:28):
and in that case, it's the second to last game
of the season, which might actually not matter. They might
rest guys. So I'm probably gonna not gonna steer clear
of that one, and I'm probably gonna lot and I'm
brobing at the pick the other Minnesota game, which is
trying to find it. It's at Minnesota. Yeah, it's at
Minnesota on national TV on ESPN late.

Speaker 1 (40:48):
In the year, but it's not so late in the
year that that people might be calling off the dogs,
so to.

Speaker 3 (40:53):
Speak, exactly. So I'm gonna go with that one, Okay.
I also just and so on my favorite players in
the league. So I gotta watch him, and I gotta
watch him and versus endemyad or just too good of
a matchup to pass up.

Speaker 1 (41:06):
I'll be quick. I'm picking December fifth home against the
Son simply because the returns of Jalen Green and Dylan
Brooks look Even if he didn't get to where we
wanted him to go as a player, Jalen Green's journey
the last four years through the rebuild, I think it
was a big part of the psychology of this fan base.
People really bonded with him. I know he has some haters,

(41:28):
but by Marge, I think this fan base appreciates him.
I think he'll be welcome home. The tribute video will
be great. And then Dylan Brooks, he was such a
huge part of the culture setting and I think what
we've seen the last couple of weeks. You know, Dylan
Brooks at Summer League sat in between Emi Udoka or

(41:48):
Felstone and Patrick Burtita like he never left. Jalen Green
penned that love letter in the Player's Tribune and basically
praising the city of Houston and the Rockets organization. Those
are two guys that we feel strongly about them, but
they still feel strongly about Houston as well. They understand
Kevin Durant is Kevin Durant one fifteen greatest players in
NBA history. And so it's a rare opportunity which you

(42:09):
welcome back a couple of you know, not stars, but
influential players and people for different reasons. And there's no bitterness.
It's just it'll just be a fun homecoming. And obviously
Katie will probably have something extra when he goes up
against the Suns after his odd experience there. But I
just think, you know, the Rocket should win the game.
It's at home. But yeah, the emotions when Jalen and

(42:31):
Dylan come back, I mean, let's not make it seem
like when Alex Redman came home with the Red Sox
earlier this week. It's nothing like that. But it will
be fun to see Jalen and Delan here again. I
think they'll get praised, They'll have some touching tribute videos.
So I'm going to pick that one just as a
sentimental All right, Powell, you're up again with the fourth
of five rounds.

Speaker 3 (42:52):
Yeah, I'm next on I'm taking is I want a
Spurs game just because for some reason, those are all
these good games, and I want to watch wavie as well,
and i'd rather it be at home, and there's one
at home that's also an ESPN game. So I'm going
to go with the twenty eighth of January against the Spurs.

Speaker 1 (43:11):
That's interesting. I was thinking about picking the seventh. I
won't now for the sake of diversity, but that Cup
game on the seventh on the road in San Antonio.
It's a Friday night and San Antonio is not that
far away, so there will be some crossover. But I
want to see how the Rockets stack up against the
Spurs because it's going to be a unique situation. We
know their history with the whole you know, Jeremy Jhan

(43:32):
and the Fuck Houston movement, Wemby at the draft lottery,
the shade he seemingly threw at the Rockets. The Spurs
are a team that the Rockets aren't going to sneak
up on anyone anymore with Kevin Durant, but for the
most part, the Rockets aren't at the level of Oklahoma
City or even the Lakers. When other teams are looking
at their schedules and saying, wow, I really want to

(43:53):
take this game super seriously. The Spurs are the one
team I think they will take games against the Rockets
more seriously than anyone else on their schedule. There's a
lot of bad blood there, and I don't think the
Rockets love the Spurs, but I just don't think the
Rockets have as much animosity towards the Spurs as the
Spurs do to them. Same state, smaller city, looking up.
The Rockets have taken them the next step in their rebuild.

(44:13):
The Spurs haven't yet. The Rockets have gotten well, not
a rebuild anymore. They're full blown contender. Spurs thought they'd
get Kevin Durant, or at least many of the fans did.
The Rockets ultimately did so. I think San Antonio is
going to have a chip on its shoulder going into
that game. The players, the fan base, and so yeah,
it'll be fun to see how Houston plays as the hunted.
And so that's why I was thinking about that February

(44:35):
seventh game or that November seventh game. Excuse me, but
the one you picked. Polo can't argue with it because
that's in Houston. I think you've been road heavy. But
either way, the Spurs matchups or interesting. I can also
see the Spurs being a team that, like the Rockets
a year ago, takes the the NBA Cup games disproportunately
seriously because they're a little bit younger. But yeah, in
general Spurs Rockets matchups, they'll be fun. And I think

(44:57):
the last couple of years it fills like the Rockets
have generally been the hunter rather than the hunt. Ed
those San Antonio games, the Rockets will be the hunt
heed and this first will be the hunter. So how
do the Rockets handle that change? That's gonna be an
interesting storyline. I'm actually gonna pick, and this is my
fourth game. I've got a couple of different options. I'm

(45:17):
gonna take the road game at Cleveland on November nineteenth,
because you mentioned Polo to start the year. How the
Rockets aren't going to be underdogs all that often. That's
one game where they will be. So if the Rockets
get off to a fast start, which it sounds like
we're both in agreement, they probably will, assuming health. That's

(45:38):
the one game against another team in that Tier one
group of contenders. A road game early on, Well, there
is the open in Oklahoma City, but we made that
off limits for obvious reasons. How do the Rockets handle
that environment? Can they go out on the road and
handle their business early in the year and that's the
point of the season where teams play very hard. Any
rust to lead off the year is generally gone and

(46:00):
nobody's gotten into the doldrums yet. So how do the
Rockets play on the road a month into the season
against a legit contender? That one's interesting for me. I
know Cleveland is not a destination city by any means,
but it does seem to have a good atmosphere for games.
It will be a good test for the Rockets. So
that's my fourth pick at the five rounds Pallo final round.

(46:21):
What's your sith? The final?

Speaker 3 (46:22):
Yeah, So there's three options here and now I can
be fully transparent because there's nothing to lose. The options
are the Warriors, the Nuggets, or okay See and Denver School,
but we don't have the history with them though we
have with the others. And then between okay See and
Golden State listen. Okay See games are always awesome. We

(46:43):
always play a play up to them. And then on
the other hand, Golden State is Golden State, and steps
probably not far from the retirement. But they always hate
walking home games against the Warriors because there's always ways
to the many Warriors sends. It feels like I was
receiving seeing the crowd chance for Steph. So I'm gonna

(47:05):
I'm gonna save myself that annoying us and I'm gonna
go with OKC, which means it has to be an
away game, so I'll take the and it can be
the first win of the seasons, so I'm gonna take
them the one. The seventh's the seventh.

Speaker 1 (47:21):
Yeah, so it's your last cheans to see how us
stack up against the champs. All right, my final pick,
and there's three that are in play, but I'm gonna
go back to a talking point we had earlier. I'm
gonna pick that November twenty sixth game at Golden State
just because I think if you can win that game,
and it would be a surprise if the Rockets aren't

(47:42):
at least in Cup contention at that point. That's the
final night of group play, so they'll be at least
playing for something added beyond just one game out of
eighty two. In the sand, as I think there will
at least be some Cup implications. But I just think
if they can go out in Golden State the night
before Thanksgiving ESPN Game Exclusive, I believe so everybody in
the league will be watching it if they can go

(48:04):
out and handle their business in that environment, after what
we saw in Game six, after what we saw at
the end of the regular season. I mean, we'll always
be pissed off about the Warriors over what's happened with
the past ten years. But I think if you go
out in the first game of the next season, and
you know, Kevin Durant in games against the Warriors, he
always seems to have something extra as well. The fans
also have something extra for him. But I think if

(48:24):
you go out at Golden State and take her of
business there, then I think that's sort of a turning
of the page. Like it would have obviously felt better
to turn the page by beating them in the playoffs.
But I think if you go out and handle your
business at Golden State again with Kevin Durant in a
starring role after making him the flagship acquisition of your offseason,
then I think that that gets to the same end goal.

(48:47):
So that's our teno, anything else you want to add
on the schedule before we get to the final segment,
which actually is going to be about the aforementioned Kevin Durant.
Any other scheduled thoughts before we move on. All right,
let's ship gears to the final segment, which, as I mentioned,

(49:09):
is about Kevin Durant. There's not a lot of NBA
news this time of year because we are in the
dead period between Summer League and free agency and the
start of training camps in late September, so there's not
a lot going on. Players are on vacation, traveling. That's
part of why there hasn't been the instructory press conference
or Kevin Durant. He's not physically here. But there was

(49:29):
a little bit of news that made waves at least
on social media a few days ago about the Rockets
and a potential extension with Kevin Durant and the idea
that at least before this season, it may not be
as much of a foregone conclusion as some had thought
at the time of the trade. And this was on
ESPN's The Hoop Collective podcast. Tim McMahon, who's very plugged

(49:52):
in with the Rockets, I want to quote from Tim.
By all appearances and by what I've heard, they're not
going all in on an extension for Kevin Durant. That
doesn't mean it won't happen. There have been rubblings of hey,
Katie isn't going to push for the full max. I
don't know the Rockets are going to put anything on
the table that's close to the max. I think the
Rockets it's not ideal, but I don't think they would
panic if they go into the season with Kevin Durant

(50:14):
just on the expiring deal that he's on. And of course,
in a time period where there's not a lot of news,
it's easy to make a mountain out of a mole hill.
And Kevin Durant has a lot of haters. He's moved
teams a lot. So there were people around the league
that had raised eyebrows that just assumed that because the
Rockets are traded for Kevin Durant, they would immediately get
into side a deal as soon as possible, and this

(50:37):
would be basically the final arc of his Hall of
Fame career. I think ultimately it will be the final
arc of his career, but I don't think it ever
should have been viewed as a foregarve conclusion that a
deal would get done prior to the season, and I
really don't think there's much to be made of this
particular tidbit. I think a lot of it's just talked
during a down period of the offseason where folks need

(50:59):
something to talk about, because if you look at it
from a basketball perspective, there's just no reason for the
Rockets to aggressively move on KD to an extension that,
if at the max, would be two years, one hundred
and twenty one million dollars through his age thirty nine season,
particularly when you have the backstop of bird rights entering

(51:21):
free agency. Really, it's not bird rates entering free agency,
it's from now until free agency. So yeah, the Rockets
could sign KD to an extension now, but they also
could during the season. They could do it in May
or June next year, after the Rockets season ends, hopefully June.
This isn't a Tarry Easton type situation where there's a
deadline for rookie sale extensions and if it doesn't happen

(51:43):
by the start of the year, then talks are tabled
until free agency restricted in that case, but still no
you you can extend Kevin at any time, and in
this case, there's just no incentive unless he's giving something
back for the Rockets to push their chip all in.
And this is a Rockets organization that I saw an
article from Sam Quinn of CBS Sports pays Ago calling

(52:06):
Rafelstone the best negotiator in the NBA, talking about the
friendly contracts the Rockets have consistently gotten and throughout this
offseason Freden Fleet, Steven Adams, Dorian Finney Smith, so winning
friendly terms up and down this roster. When you look
at the finances, I don't see the Rockets abandoning those
principles for anyone, not even Kevin Durant. Unless there's a

(52:27):
situation where the player is a flight risk. Maybe then,
but Kevin Durant just chose the Rockets, So I don't
see him as a flight risk to where you have
to throw all fiscal scents out the window because you're
worried about Well, if you let him get close to
free agency, then he can potentially leave you for no
compensation because he'll be a malcontent. No, I don't see
that at all. He just shows you and the Rockets

(52:48):
have done a great job for honestly years just look at,
as I mentioned in the last segment, Jalen Grain and
Dylan Brooks, the great terms that they're on even after
leaving Houston. I don't think you should worry about the
Rockets their relationship with Kevin Durant. And if that's not
a consideration, there's no reason to bid against yourself and
get a deal done this far in advance unless Kevin

(53:12):
is giving something back, like if Kevin is willing to
do I mentioned two for one twenty one, I think
that's the full max two for one hundred and maybe
two for eighty something like that, then okay, there's something
to be said for if you can get him on
potentially a discounted rate relative to waiting, and for Kevin
the upside as he gets the peace of mind, the
financial security in advance, then yeah, you can do that.

(53:35):
But if Kevin wants the MAX or anything close, and
he's certainly entitled to want that. He's one of the
best players in NBA history, and right now he's playing
at an above MAX level. He happens to be capped
at the MAX because of the NBA system, he might
want to hold out for more money and that's totally
his prerogative. But if you're the Rockets and you can
offer that deal at any time, not just this offseason,

(53:56):
but during the season and next May and June, at
the start of next offseason, why would you go all
in now when the third year or when the second
year of that extension is three years out. All sorts
of things can happen between now and Kd's age thirty
nine season. There's a reason why the CBA has these
age thirty six and age thirty eight rules that limit

(54:18):
the contracts that you can give out for players in
that age range. Some get hurt, some decline. Naturally, we
can hope that KD ages like Lebron and plays at
an all star level into his forties, but you certainly
shouldn't take that as a guarantee. So if you're the
Rockets and you wait, you get more data points this year,
make sure Kevin is still that guy, that level of player,

(54:41):
and instead of being three years out, you're two two
and a half years out, so you feel more comfortable
in your investment. For me, powlowed, the negotiations between the
Rockets and Kevin are somewhat similar to the negotiations between
the Rockets and Fred earlier this summer, and that with
Fred there was always the backstop of pay even if
if everything goes wrong, we can always just pick up

(55:02):
that team option. And it's certainly not the preference because
he'd be on the books at a much higher figure,
but he's not going to walk for no compensation. And
I think even if the Rockets and Fred did not
come to an agreement, they would have just picked up
the option. And even if it cost your jewey On
Phinny Smith someone like that, the Rockets would deal with
it because Fred is just that important. Kevin's obviously even
more important than that, So I don't think there's any

(55:24):
scenario where the Rockets would lose him for no compensation.
Worst case, you can just give him the max. And
I think with Kevin haven't already picked Houston, that to
your max extension or ner max, you may as well
consider that a team option that's always going to be there.
So everybody knows that that's an option if you need it,

(55:44):
But why would you not try to negotiate something that's
more team friendly. In my opinion, that's what's going on.
Hopefully it gets to a positive resolution, but sometimes it
takes getting closer to the deadline, and that's another reason
why I don't think it's shocking that nothing seems to
be cooking right now. I mean, it takes deadlines to
move and with Fred, it had been whispered for weeks.

(56:05):
You know, everybody basically knew that Fred was going to
stick with the Rockets, but it took until the final
days before that option deadline for something to get done.
That's just the way negotiations work, and I think that's
something similar here. The Rockets aren't going to let Kevin
Durant walk for no compensation or Felstone is not stupid.
They're also not going to mismanage the relationship. But there's
also not an incidentive for them to rush into a
MAX deal through his age thirty nine season. It's a

(56:29):
two year extension, but it's after this coming season, so
it's basically a three year deal for guy who' would
be thirty nine. There's no reason for the Rockets to
rush into that. If Kevin wants to give something back,
then yeah, there's a conversation to be had there, and
I think that's what Tim is alluding to. But if
Kevin is set on something close to the max, and
that's certainly his prerogative that I think the Rockets will
just say, hey, let's let's revisit this at a later date.

(56:51):
There's no way you're not going to be here because
you know, if push comes to shove, we do have
the option to just give that max deal. But hopefully
cooler heads can prevail and we get more data and
we can come to an agreement that works for both sides.
So that's the way I'm looking at this. If you
look at the Rafelstone history with the Rockets, there's nothing
to suggest that they're not going to look out for themselves,
not even for a player with Kevin Durant's name. So

(57:14):
there's a lot of sticker shot to that Tim McMahon report.
When people saw, I think there were a lot of
eyebrowns raised, But when you think about it, to me,
it's just part of the course with the refel Stone administration.
I don't think it's not surprising. I don't think it's
something that fans should lose much sleepover. Kyo, did you
have any other I guess reactions when you saw that news.

Speaker 3 (57:33):
I think at at this point you can take out
a scenario where Kad gets injured, So I actually would
probably agree that the best course of action is just
to get a hit free agency next year, because let's
be serious here, Kad has this year and two more
and he's retired. That's probably what's happening to what everybody's

(57:53):
talking about. So at the end of this year, you're
looking at two til more years of Kad. You're coming
off a season Garris Haliburton torn Achilles Castent Tatum. I
think it was an Achilles as well. The mean, I'm
not sure if it was Achilles and I see or
whatever he's after the alires. Yeah, it was a Killy
as well. You're coming off a year where you've seen

(58:15):
superstar players get season ending injuries for the next season,
and you're seeing that their franchises are basically having to
take a year off. None of these teams has any
cance of doningtlamp can hip this year and then he
will get the Rockets and if Kad, you know, knock
on wood obviously, but if Kad for some reason has
one of those injuries, the truth is they're not going

(58:37):
to sign them back because they're not going to give
them two year due to cut to one year of KD,
and that year would be his thirty nine year old
season coming off of whatever serious injury. It is playing
him that much money when a man found some extension
kicks in, which is likely to be a max one. So,
if we're being honest, if KD gets a serious injury

(58:58):
through this season that takes up next season, he's, if
not retiring, close to it. The Rockets are not gonna
you know, giving him a contract now would be disastrous basically,
But let's take that scenario out of the equation. What's
the worst case scenario if he's healthy. The worst case
scenario scenario if he's healthy is his pisted and he
wants to leave, and so you've got it. But the

(59:20):
only way he can leave, unless he wants to take
d mL E, is to sign with the team that
has cap space. What teams are projected to have cap space.
Chicago Bulls are not anywhere closer to contention, and I
think KAD wants to cash out a couple of extra
years at the end of his career. I think he
wants to go for the championship. Washington the same thing,
Utah the same thing, Brooklyn the same thing. There's the Lakers, right,

(59:43):
and he could I mean, if Lebron's retiring, he could
possibly sign there. I'm not too sure what the Lakers
have on the books, but I'm working at spot track,
and there's you know, a champs that they can know
that they can open up cap space. So it's because
the run wears off focus, expansion kicks in l and
Ruya fimor comes off the books. They can decline the

(01:00:04):
often on Norstin Reees. But at that point you're looking
at the team that has Luca the Aidam, Jaco Raveda,
Marcus Smart and nothing else and so probably not a
contender year one when you're vaining that much made to
those two guys. So the Rockets would still hold the
leverage in the worst case scenario to just give Katy

(01:00:26):
the max. And at that point I wouldn't even put
it past them to offer him just a one year max.
So I think there's a lot of options here that
people are not considered to be considering Kid's eight right.
I think it is awesome, but he's one injury away
from retired basically, so I think it makes sense to
play it cautious. I think if he gives you, you know,

(01:00:49):
as you say, if he gives you two years one
hundred million or two years eighty million. I think at
that point it's so big of a discount that you
just run the risk and you just sign them now,
and you hope that everything goes all right, because even
if it doesn't, the HiT's not as bad. But I
don't think it's something to be alarmed about. It is
something that a smartsteron office would do, considering that KBR

(01:01:11):
chose to come to Houston, right, So it's not if
it hasn't happened. If it didn't happen the moment the
trade happened, it's because there were no promises made at
the point of the trade between Skinny. He would have
no reason to be angry about it, right.

Speaker 1 (01:01:25):
He could have leveraged that to me, and if there
was one into trade talks telling Phoenix, hey, I want
to go to a destination where they're going to give
me a two year max extension as a condition of
this trade, he didn't. I think it's been well reported
that Minnesota was desperate for the guy. I'm sure they
would have given them the two year max if it
got his approval on a deal to send him there.

(01:01:48):
They didn't get it. So I don't think it's that
important to KD either. And these the scenario you threw
out of a one year deal, that wouldn't be shocking.
I mean, the Rockets are obviously priority tizing flexibility in
twenty seven because that's the year that a men Tosen
will go up to a full max deal in all likelihood.
There's a lot of guys in the NBA. You know,

(01:02:10):
Fred's a smaller scale example here in Houston, but stars
in their thirties are comfortable playing on one or maybe
one plus one type deals, especially as they get to
their mid to late thirties. Look at James Harden with
the Clippers, look at Lebron lit the Lakers. There's lots
of examples of stars as they get into their thirties
taking it year by year, and they know as long

(01:02:32):
as they play near the peak of their powers, they're
going to have leverage. In some ways, it gives them
more leverage because obviously they can leverage the threat of
free agency if they need it. I don't think that
will be necessary here in Houston, because Katie wants to
be here in Houston, wants KD. But there's lots of precedent,
even for players in the very top tier. Again, look

(01:02:53):
at Lebron and James Harden of players going one year
at a time or one plus one. So I don't
think one year, if it's at the full max, it's
all that much of a head, especially because Kevin can
recoup at least a decent figure in twenty seven if
he hits free agency, then so I think that's an
option two years at lower average annual value. I threw

(01:03:15):
out that there's lots of ways that this get in,
but I think where we're in alignment, there's just no
reason for the Rockets to irresponsibly bid, and there's nothing
in their history to suggest that they would at the
full max for two years this early. If push comes
to shove and assuming there's no injury, now they let
him walk if he's injured and God forbid tears and achilles,

(01:03:36):
but I think they'll load manage him pretty well so
that hopefully that doesn't happen. If God forbid something terrible happens,
then sure they might let him go. But if not,
I think it's similar to Fred and that worst case
they'd bite the bullet. They wouldn't lose him for no compensation,
you'd take a hit on the Dorian Phinney Smith here
before you'd lose someone like Fred Beenfleeter in this case
Kevin Durant, So he's going to stay no matter what.

(01:03:57):
You have the bird rights in your back pocket. But yeah,
they'll try and negotiate a more friendly deal. And by
the way, just a little thing, I've heard that Kevin
and Fred have worked out together this offseason. They have
a very good relationship. Katie's been very complimentary of him
over the years, and so seeing Fred take a discount
here in Houston, and Fred now is actually president of

(01:04:18):
the players Union in the NBA. When Fred, the veteran leader,
sets that tone, when he provides that template, it wouldn't
shock me if Kevin follows. Friend's a pretty influential guy.
The way they can justify it, I know, technically, you
know it's not good for the union if players are
taking below their maximum earning power. Look, this is an

(01:04:43):
awkward time in the NBA anyway, because of the second apron,
because of how punitive some of the team building measures
are with the new CBA, and I think with guys
in their thirties that have huge career earnings and the
hundreds of millions. Kevin has so much endorsetlup money coming
in as well. I could see, similar to Fred, him
taking a much lower deal and expected with the logic being, Hey,

(01:05:05):
why don't we let guys like Amen Thompson an all
pri In Shongoon Chagoon's not at the MAX, but he's
pretty damn closed. I think a men will definitely be
at the MAX. Guys that are getting their first contract,
their first real opportunity at generational wealth. Why don't we
let the organization splurge on them and save a little
bit of money on us guys that already have massive

(01:05:28):
career stockpiles of money over a decade plus in the NBA.
I think that was part of the thinking for Fred
and Fleet, maybe a little bit for Steven Adams as well.
I could see it being the case for Kevin as well.
I don't know how it's going to end, but with
Fred and Kevin having a good relationship, it wouldn't shock me,
so I wouldn't write off the possibility of a Kevin
deal getting done this offseason. I could see him wanting

(01:05:49):
the security. I think he truly wants to be here,
but I don't think it has to get done. And
I think that's the point that Tim McMahon of ESPN
was trying to get at. It would be nice the
biggest sun, but it's not essential.

Speaker 3 (01:06:05):
Yeah, and it's it's also about trust, right, And I
think that's where Fred also plays a big role, which is,
you know, Fred, can you know tell Kade hey As
worked with the Rockets for a few years now and go,
and the way Fred's steal was structured through time was
always in a base of trust. When the deal first
came out, it was a three year deal, it had

(01:06:25):
a team option, but nobody knew until the initial head
of the big when the big, large number hitting the media,
you know, took its effect. Right, there was a trust
factor there where the Rockets were like, hey, you could
announce that the other three year deal to make it
look like more than it actually is, so you get
the free pr from it. The Rockets were okay with that,

(01:06:46):
and then back in when the deal obviously came to
the moment of the team option, but they delayed the
team options subsequently until the Rockets were in a position
where they knew what their officason looked like and they
knew what Fred could would they could give Fred And
then when they gave that money to Fred, they also
gave him a team Oklin for the next year. So
in case Freddy gets hurt or something like that, there's

(01:07:07):
the trust that, hey, you know you have this leverage
if something happens, you have this treader as well. It's
it's basically a compromise between both parties. Then I think
Fred is the first guy who can you know, testify
as to throw its being a player friendly organization and
as far as you know kd in a in a
potential discount, I think it's you got Fred to take

(01:07:30):
it as cap I think Kibari didn't go for the
max money that he could have gotten. I don't think
he could have done for max money, but I don't
think he got as much as he possibly could have
if he stuck it out until the last moment of
you know, the deadline for the extension, orly if he
took it too free agency the year after. I think obviously,
I think Dorrian Finnish Smith could have gotten more money.

(01:07:51):
I think Steven Adams could have gone the full MLIE somewhere.
I think that is a precedent of the Rockets trying
to kind of Penny pinch every single deal to try
and make up space to have a better team. And
I think everybody is along with along that direction, and
it would make every sense in the world that KD,
the guy who's the older one, that's you know, trying

(01:08:11):
to get another championship and who would probably have the
most to game from a championship, which certainly that people
don't talk about this is this would be Kd's you
know and the man you know championship. Everybody says shadow
of step three, Yeah exactly. This is like one of
his also opportunities to summit his legacy on the one
thing that everywhere throws in his face. So I think

(01:08:32):
it makes sense from that perspective, and I think if
I'm up misremembering, I think even Timmah sold or said that,
you know, he is expected to take blow Max money.
It's just how much Bobbo Max money will he be taking.
So it's not like KD wants to Max and Rockets
are unwilling to give him the Max. It's that well,
KBO is willing to give some back and Rockets will

(01:08:53):
probably be more comfortable it take out a little bit
more back in that deal. Yeah, exactly exactly, So I
think it's I think it just makes sense. I think
the Rabbitts has been cautious the entire time through with contracts. Well,
they've been conscious with contracts from the moment that the
salary gaps started to matter, which is when they tried
to become good. From that point on, they've been smart

(01:09:13):
with how they've handled everything. I think Sarisian's extension is
probably the priority right now. This doesn't mean that they
can't do two things at the same time, but I
think our reasons contract is more important, and I think
the Resian's extension probably impacts how much they're willing to
offer too for kV as well, because they'll be paid
at the same time. Him, Jabari and Kad will obviously

(01:09:36):
be being paid at the same time. So with that structure,
especially for that third year of kV in Houston, which
would be the second year of Sarisian's extension Andar's extension,
especially at that point, is the most important point. So
it makes sense that they want that they want to
know exactly what they're going to have on the books
before to give KD, you know, an offer for because

(01:09:59):
what I'm backing to happen is they'll probably grown close members.
Then they'll give KB every last start that they can
while still reasonably being able to either Dug the Tacks
or Dug the second Apron or Doug the first Aborn,
depending on what they're wanting to do with their mL.
So it just makes all the sense in the world
for them to have a real look at what their
actual cap he's going to look like for that third

(01:10:20):
year for making a decision gav And as I said,
there's also that possibility of hey, if you don't want
to worry about that thirty year, or GiB could come
back with, hey, listen, don't worry about that third year.
We'll look at it when it comes to it. Let's
just sign on one year extension. And that's a possibility
as well on releasear.

Speaker 1 (01:10:40):
Yeah, the bottom line for me trust the Rockets when
it comes to issues of culture and relationships, and in
this case, even if they aren't in alignment before the year,
there's also a value in giving Kevin more time with
these guys. Kevin's a guy who dried his NBA career.
I mean, he's gotten a reputation for not sticking around

(01:11:02):
in one place for that long. I think it's pretty clear.
Obviously he has a relationship with amy Udoka going back
to their Brooklyn days. This is a culture that he's
going to like. It's a culture that even the players
who leave, as mentioned Jalen and Dylan still speak glowingly up.
So he's working out with Fred now. That relationship is important.

(01:11:25):
But if he's not on board, give him a few
weeks of games with the rest of the team and
he sees what it's like on a day to day basis.
Give him a few weeks being coached by emy Udoka,
day in, day out. That may help as well. Besides
just the business case for Waiting getting more information if
he's asking for too much now, if you need him

(01:11:46):
to potentially take a discount, obviously the relationship with Fred
will help. But I also think just seeing how good
the team is, saying what the culture is like, that
stuff is only going to help you. And so when
it comes to issues of culture of relationships, I think
that's where the Rafelstone and Amadoka version of the Rockets
have earned your trust. And so if the only real downside,
as we mentioned earlier to Waiting is what if somehow

(01:12:09):
the relationship gets poisoned. I don't think that's a realistic downside.
That's not gonna happen here, and so hopefully the sides
come to terms before the year. If not, they can
continue talking about this into the year, into even next
offseason if they need to. He's going to be around,
barring severe injury or barring something crazy. I truly believe
he's going to finish his career here. It's going to
be fine. It's a matter of if rather matter of

(01:12:31):
when rather than if, and we'll see exactly when the
sides are in alignment. Anyway, that'll do it for this
episode until our next show, which probably in the six
weeks en up to training camp, I think will be
more interview based, bring in some of your other favorite Rockets,
media personalities, traps, social media as well to talk about
the team, what we've seen this offseason, expectations for the

(01:12:54):
year head because there's probably not going to be too
much news unless there's a contract that breaks between either
Kevin or so the next six weeks will be a
little more infrequent with episodes. Will also be a little different,
less analysis between me and Powo because there's less to
analyzed period and more bringing in people that maybe you
haven't heard from as much, at least not on this
podcast over the season that was and might not over

(01:13:14):
the season that is ahead, because we'll be talking game in,
game out analysis again. But yeah, we'll do some more
fun offbeat things and perhaps let you guys get to
know some of your favorite people around the Rockets a
bit more over the next six weeks. Just give the
heads off. This probably going to be a little bit
different anyway for tonight. This is where we break and
if you want more insights before our next episode, the

(01:13:37):
best place to catch up with us is on social media.
You can find me on major platforms at Vndubo's Polo
at Polo Alps, NBA, and also through Plugs to Rockets
wherever I'm the editor. You go to Rockets dot USA,
today dot com read the key takeaways article that I
put up regarding the schedule today. That's got a lot
of great insight. I put in a lot of work
on that, so I appreciate it. If you check that out,
it'll get more in depth on what Powo and I

(01:13:58):
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(01:14:21):
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