There is a little under two weeks left in the NBA regular season. And while some teams are hoping for better luck when the draft lottery balls are drawn, others are seeing their championship aspirations grow day by day. Among the latter group are definitely the Houston Rockets . After making a big splash in the offseason and bringing in two-time champion Kevin Durant to their young and relatively inexperienced roster, it seemed like the sky was the limit for this team. Now, well, they currently sit in sixth place in a highly competitive Western Conference, and are not the first team that comes to mind for many as a potential Larry O'Brien trophy winner in June.
Paul Pierce , the Boston Celtics icon, who is often heard in today's media landscape, believes the reason why the Rockets won't win anything this year is simple, and his name is Durant. Namely, Pierce does not believe that KD is capable of being the first option on a contender anymore, and that's just the reality of it.
"This is the third team KD has come to, right? But based on KD's greatness… It's like, they didn't get it done in Phoenix. They didn't get it done in Brooklyn. Now you come to Houston, they were the number two seed last year, people forget that…" Pierce argued on the "No Fouls Given" podcast.
"At this age, he doesn't influence winning like he used to before, like in OKC and Golden State. Which is understandable… So, he can't be the best player on your championship team right now," the 2008 NBA Champ added.
If we take a quick trip down memory lane, Pierce's argument holds some weight. The only championships Durant won came with the Golden State Warriors , a team stacked with Hall of Fame talent, where, even though he took home two Finals MVP awards, he did not have to carry the load by himself.
Later, with the Brooklyn Nets , a team that was supposed to shake the power dynamics in the Association, he also failed to get them anywhere near the promised land; the same goes for the "wannabe" superteam with the Phoenix Suns , both of which he did not even reach the Conference Finals.
On paper, it all looked good, just like it does in H-Town now. But the reality is still full of question marks and doubts about their competitiveness in the West. Even though there is more than enough supporting firepower, in the form of Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson , it seems like KD is still carrying the biggest offensive load, averaging 25.9 points per game. And in that kind of setup, Pierce believes, success will not follow.
With Durant getting up there in age and mileage, considering he is well into his late 30s (37), Pierce also drew parallels with LeBron James and Stephen Curry . Arguably, the three biggest stars of the past decade are all on the downward slope of their legendary careers. And while LeBron has finally let somebody else take the wheel and taken more of a backseat, and Curry has been dealing with injuries and is no longer able to carry a team on his own consistently, Durant, according to Pierce, should accept the same fate sooner rather than later.
However, it is not all that dark for the Rockets. Even though the vibes are not exactly where they want them to be, considering they are just 5-5 in their last ten games, Ime Udoka's squad definitely has more than enough to cause problems for anyone in the first round of the playoffs. And who knows, if everything falls into place, maybe it will be Durant's experience that tips the scale in a tightly contested, nerve-wracking playoff scenario. We will find out very soon.
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This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Mar 30, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
