Kevin Durant’s first season in Houston ended with a familiar problem: the Rockets got plenty from him, but not enough healthy runway at the end. At 37, Durant still delivered at a high level - 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game while finishing ninth in MVP voting - yet injuries late in the season and playoffs cut things short.
That’s why the next question in Houston is already on the table: should the Rockets manage his workload?
The Rockets On SI staff recently weighed that issue, and the discussion landed in a pretty practical place. Rather than building a strict rest plan, the idea is to trim Durant’s minutes and keep him fresher over the long haul. He averaged 36.4 minutes last season, and shaving three or four minutes a night could help without forcing him into the kind of scheduled absences he has never really embraced.
Durant has never been big on load management, and he still wants to play whenever he can. Houston doesn’t need to treat the regular season like a nightly emergency. It does need him available when the games turn into actual elimination basketball.
In Brooklyn, the Nets are asking Julius Randle to be more than a bucket-getter. Jordi Fernandez said the three-time All-Star will also be expected to help lead a young roster after arriving from the Timberwolves in the trade that sent Nic Claxton to the Bulls.
“He’s going to be a leader, that’s for sure,” Fernandez said, via Sameer Kumar of Nets On SI. “He wants to lead. He wants to do it the right way.”
That role fits Randle’s background. He has already been through the grind of carrying a rebuilding team in a tough market, helping end the Knicks’ seven-year playoff drought before later reaching the Western Conference finals with Minnesota.
Brooklyn also needs the basketball side of it. Randle’s ability to get downhill and attack the paint should open things up for Michael Porter Jr., Egor Demin and Mikel Brown Jr. on the perimeter, while his ability to initiate offense can ease some of the burden on the Nets’ younger players.
Could the Nets eventually move him if a better timeline fit comes along? Sure. But for now, the plan is clear: give Randle a major role and let him set the tone on and off the floor.
Minnesota, meanwhile, may be leaning harder on Rudy Gobert than ever - and that may not be a comfortable tradeoff. The Timberwolves added LaMelo Ball while losing Julius Randle and Naz Reid, which leaves the roster smaller and more exposed around the rim.
Andrew Carlson of Timberwolves On SI pointed out the burden that could land on Gobert. He’ll be expected to protect the basket, clean up breakdowns on the perimeter and dominate the defensive glass. That gets tricky if Ball has trouble fighting through screens or Jaden McDaniels struggles to hold up against bigger power forwards.
It’s a familiar kind of stress for Gobert. Late in his Jazz days, opponents dragged him away from the basket, hunted weaker defenders and then pinned the blame on him when he couldn’t cover every problem at once.
Minnesota is more athletic than those Utah teams, and Ball should help on the other end with his passing and his ability to create lob chances. But the real issue is defense.
If Ball competes, McDaniels can handle stronger forwards and the Wolves rebound as a group, Gobert can stay locked into what he does best. If that doesn’t happen, Minnesota could end up asking him to solve everything again.
No center can do that. Not even a four-time Defensive Player of the Year.
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