Kevin Durant has spent nearly two decades in the NBA, and for a new wave of players, he’s still the kind of name that makes the room change. Bruce Thornton got his first real taste of that at Houston Rockets media day, and the rookie did not try to hide how surreal it felt to share the floor with him.
“The first time that he played with us, it was definitely insane. I’m not going to lie.
I called my friends and I was like, ‘Yo. There’s definitely levels to this.’
I’m playing defense, and I almost caught myself just watching. I was like, ‘Is this guy going to miss?’
Every time that he was shooting, the ball was going in. That shows the type of player and type of person he is… I definitely have a good role model that I can watch throughout the whole year.”
That reaction makes sense when you look at Durant’s latest season. He put up 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.8 assists across 78 games, good enough to land on All-NBA Second Team and finish in the top 10 in Clutch Player of the Year voting.
Thornton, meanwhile, is just beginning his NBA climb. The rookie enters the 2026-2027 season after becoming Ohio State’s all-time scoring leader and then hearing his name called with the No. 31 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
He has already given Houston a reason to pay attention. In Summer League, Thornton averaged 18.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 2.6 steals per game, production that suggests he can handle real minutes if the opportunity opens up.
The problem is that Houston’s backcourt is crowded. Fred VanVleet is expected back in the starting lineup, while Marcus Smart and Reed Sheppard are likely to fill backup guard roles. That leaves Thornton facing a tough path to consistent playing time.
There’s also the bigger picture working against him: the Rockets are coming off a 50+ win season and have Durant at the center of one of their strongest championship windows since James Harden left the franchise.
So Thornton may spend much of his first year in a limited role. Still, his skill set gives Houston another piece to develop, and in an NBA season, chances have a way of appearing when they’re least expected.
In Other News...
Amen Thompson Faces Bigger Rockets Expectations After One Painful Snub
Amen Thompson walked into Rockets media day carrying the weight that comes with a five-year, $208 million extension, and he didnt sound interested in treating it like a finish line. The young wing talked about sharing a major contract milestone with his brother Ausar, who signed a similar deal with the Pistons, and about what the new money means in practical terms as much as professionally. For Houston, the larger point is obvious: the organization is paying for the kind of two-way growth that can help turn a promising core into something far more dangerous.
Thompson also framed the conversation around what still has to come next, with his focus fixed on sharpening his defense and chasing a championship in the 2026-27 season. He discussed the disappointment of falling short of All-Defensive recognition and the motivation that comes with being overlooked, while also offering a few personal details about how life has changed since the extension. It all adds up to a reminder that the Rockets are no longer talking about Thompson as a breakthrough story, but as a player expected to meet a much higher standard. [Read more 🡒]
Fred VanVleets Return Could Change Everything For Houstons Offense
Fred VanVleet is back in the picture for Houston after missing the entire 2025-26 season with a torn ACL and meniscus, a loss that left a real void in the Rockets backcourt and in their overall organization. After spending the year away from game action, the veteran guard has been medically cleared for a return in 2026-27 and is already back with the group in training camp, which gives the Rockets a much-needed stabilizer as they try to sharpen an offense that could use more direction.
VanVleets presence matters here beyond just another healthy body. Houston has been looking for steadier leadership, cleaner ball-handling and better late-game execution, and those are exactly the areas where he can change the feel of a possession and, by extension, a close game. There is still a short runway before the season starts, but the expectation around camp is that he will be out there when the preseason begins, which gives the Rockets an early chance to see how much smoother things look with him back steering the offense. [Read more 🡒]
Kevin Durants Rockets Absence Still Looms Over That Lakers Series
Houstons season ended with plenty of promise and one very clear what-if. After finishing 52-30 and getting pushed out in the first round by the Lakers, the Rockets spent much of that series without Kevin Durant, who had already been out for Game 1 because of a knee injury before hurting his ankle in Game 2. His absence left the team leaning even harder on the rest of its core, with Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson continuing to show why the organization feels good about where this group is headed.
Durant said he was not close to returning during the series, a reminder of how much the injury kept him from shaping the matchup the way Houston had envisioned. Even so, he framed the experience as useful for the Rockets younger players, who got a taste of the kind of playoff pressure that regular-season success cant fully simulate. For a team built around growth as much as results, that part may matter just as much as the loss itself. [Read more 🡒]