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The Houston Rockets are off to a 9-3 start to the year, winning four of their last five games.
However, the Rockets are still missing a true point guard who can orchestrate the franchise’s offense to perfection, as Fred VanVleet is nursing an ACL injury that’ll likely sideline him for the entire 2025-26 season.
If the franchise wants to give Amen Thompson a chance to occupy his natural position (shooting guard/small forward), they could reunite Kevin Durant with a 6-foot-2 NBA champion guard, according to CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn.
“(Kyrie) Irving's trade value is a total mystery,” Quinn wrote last Thursday. "Even when younger and healthy in Brooklyn, interest was tepid. He's a mercurial guy, and there are teams that just wouldn't risk bringing him into their building under any circumstances, especially if they knew he didn't want to come there.”
“The torn ACL and three-year contract don't help either. They're not going to trade Irving just to trade him. They'd have to get something of substance. There's really only one team that makes sense, and that's Houston, where he could reunite with Kevin Durant.”
“The Rockets are already winning without a starting point guard in VanVleet, and Dorian Finney-Smith hasn't debuted yet, so they wouldn't really miss him in a trade like this (Fred VanVleet, Dorian Finney-Smith, and a 2029 first-round pick to the Mavericks for Irving).
Irving and Durant teamed up in Brooklyn (Nets) for 2.5 seasons. The aging superstars were expected to help the Nets reach new heights in the early 2020s.
However, the two future Hall of Famers failed to guide the franchise to a championship/championship appearance during their relatively short tenures.
Still, it’s worth noting that Irving and Durant were among the most exciting/productive duos at that time, as Irving’s mesmerizing side-to-side ball handling and Durant’s pure pull-up jump shooting made the Nets must-see TV.
Could a reunion come to fruition this season? Irving, like VanVleet, is recovering from an ACL setback, but is expected to return to the hardwood this season (unlike VanVleet).
Assuming the Rockets are still contenders by the time Irving is close to making his season debut, it would be in the surging Western Conference franchise’s best interest to give the former Cleveland Cavaliers star a look on the trade market.
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