Kevin Durant’s Free Agency Destination Power Rankings

8. Houston Rockets

A year ago, the Houston Rockets might have felt like legitimate players in a Kevin Durant sweepstakes. James Harden was coming off an MVP-caliber season, the Rockets reached the Western Conference Finals, Dwight Howard was still good, Donatas Motiejunas had a functioning back, Corey Brewer and Trevor Ariza weren’t complete trash, etc, etc.

A year later, a reunion between two burgeoning OKC stars feels like little more than a pipe dream for the Rocket faithful.

For starters, reports have already emerged that Durant would not consider Houston as a free agency destination despite his ongoing friendship with Harden.

For another thing, the roster will likely look very different next season as Dwight Howard opts out of the final $23.3 million of his contract, D-Mo and Terrence Jones hit restricted free agency and Ty Lawson, Jason Terry and Josh Smith all come off the books.

Finally, it’s important to note that every positive trend from the first paragraph of this slide has since been reversed by the 2015-16 season.

Like it or not, Harden is a singularly talented offensive player whose numbers are far better than his defense, leadership qualities or overall impact on his team’s success would indicate. The Rockets would be aimless without him, but they’re not exactly heat-seeking missiles under his command either.

Howard, the team’s second best player, will be gone faster than you can say “Pringles,” and speaking of which, head coach Mike D’Antoni doesn’t seem like the kind of coach Durant would want to play for. Harden and Durant may be friends, and the Rockets will have cap space to make some moves, but KD to the Rockets is an absolute stretch at this point.

Next: No. 7