“That’s a horrible formula to win basketball games at a high level, especially when teams are consciously getting bigger,” Kevin Durant says of his Phoenix teams (via SI’s Chris Mannix).
Between Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., and Alperen Sengun, the Houston Rockets will start at least three players who stand 6-foot-10 or taller in height.
They might start a fourth in Steven Adams, which would then shift Amen Thompson — a 6-foot-7 athletic phenom — to point guard.
As Durant sees it, that type of size is a big part of what made Houston an attractive trade destination in the first place.
In a cover story for the upcoming Sports Illustrated (SI) basketball preview, the future Hall of Famer tells SI’s Chris Mannix that size — or a lack thereof — proved to be fatal flaw for his previous teams.
Regarding the Phoenix Suns, who Durant played with for two-plus seasons, the 15-time NBA All-Star said:
From a basketball standpoint, I felt like our best lineups were me at the five with four guards that were under 6-foot-5. That’s a horrible formula to win basketball games at a high level, especially when teams are consciously getting bigger. I think we can speak on a mental aspect of the game as much as we want, but I think that physical aspect of the game is why we weren’t successful as a team.
As Mannix explained, the superstar forward pushed back at the notion that the Suns’ problems were due to the original Durant trade, in which Phoenix sent an asset haul to the Brooklyn Nets.
A postmortem could trace the failure back to the Durant deal. Specifically, what Phoenix gave up — Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson and four unprotected first-round picks — to get him (in February 2023). Durant doesn’t buy it. “I feel like I can make up for anything,” he says. “Whatever you’re losing.” The Bradley Beal trade further limited Phoenix’s ability to address what Durant says was the real problem: a lack of frontcourt muscle.
In the 2025 negotiations, Rockets general manager Rafael Stone didn’t give up nearly as many assets to bring in Durant. The fact that he’s now 37 years old and in the final year of his contract likely played a role in that.
But from Durant’s perspective, it appears to be less about the overall talent or assets and more about sheer size. The Rockets certainly have that, and when combined with a head coach that Durant respects in Ime Udoka, that made them the right spot.
“The formula the last few years in the league is to have size, and to have guys that can penetrate, create extra possessions for you, switch, and guard multiple positions,” Durant recently told Houston reporters regarding his fit with the Rockets.
“Length, athleticism, discipline, and effort every single night, from a scheme perspective. That and camaraderie, continuity, all of that stuff matters. That’s what has been successful in the last couple years, from my observation.”
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