Why is the Rockets offseason signings are a masterpiece?

Not to mention the other other similarly commendable signing operations of Houston Rockets general manager Stone during the offseason, the successful acquisition of Durant at a very small price is enough to make him a god in one battle! The Rockets' successful acquisition of Durant is like a big wing, but the team only paid Jaylen Green, Dillon Brooks, this year's No. 10 draw and 5 second round picks for this. It seems to be a deal that exchanges for eight, and the price is quite high.

But if you really look at it, the Rockets' chips are like cabbage prices!

The Rockets' regular season record last season was second in the Western Conference, second only to the Thunder. However, when the team faced the seventh Golden State Warriors in the playoffs, they played more like a lower-dog side, which was different from the regular season performance...

In the end, the Rockets lost to the Warriors at home in the tiebreak battle. The team failed in the first round and started fishing mode early...

This is obviously far from the team's championship goal!

Jell Green is undoubtedly to blame, isn't it?

It can even be said that if there was no Green in the Rockets' camp and this starter who played an important role in tactics, the Rockets would not have played the first round of the playoffs early!

If you have watched this year's Rockets playoffs, you will know how bad Green's performance is, and this makes it more and more impressive that Durant's trade is now!

Except for G2's second round, Green scored 38 points, the remaining six games in the series averaged only 9.1 points, with a shooting percentage of 31%, which is a terrible sight, and the three-point shooting percentage dropped to 19% -

This is equivalent to Green's only hitting one goal every five three-point shots, but he must compete for every goal in the playoffs. How can the Rockets have such a fault tolerance rate and let it squander it!

It is worth mentioning that Green scored single digits in four full games this year's playoffs, and the only outbreak was in G2, and when Butler was out of the game early due to injury, he scored 38 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists. Therefore, in this round of playoffs against the Warriors, Green averaged only 13.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, with a shooting percentage of 37.2%. The team's biggest casualty in losing, no doubt.

When the Rockets exchanged 23-year-old Green, who was in a state ups and downs, for Durant, one of the most stable scorers in league history, the Rockets' goal to the championship next season is not an empty slogan.

Studying the seasons with the lowest shooting percentage in a single season in Durant's career, they were almost all distributed in the early stages of his career - the rookie season in 2008, shooting 43% from the field; 46.2% from the field in 2011; 47.6% from the field in 2009; 47.6% from the field in 2010; 49.6% from the field in 2012.

In recent seasons, Durant's shooting percentage has set his best shooting performance in his career - 56% in 2023, 53.7% in 2021, 53.7% in 2017, 52.7% in 2025, and 52.3% in 2024, which is definitely the best shooting on the court.

When Green, Dillon Brooks, Landae and others left the team, and the Rockets further improved and upgraded the rotation lineup by introducing Finney Smith (wing) and Capela (center), the Rockets rose strongly overnight!