Dave McMenamin says Amen Thompson has no idea how Kevin Durant is feeling:

"Amen Thompson was asked how KD was feeling and he said 'To be honest with you, I don't know.' Whether that means KD has been doing all of his rehab away from the team or the team hasn't been checking in… pic.twitter.com/EnfRl1VIF3

— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) April 26, 2026

Head Ninja In Charge said:

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I never want to see Kevin Durant's face in or around Harris County or surrounding counties ever again.

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Well, you certainly don't have to see it on the court tonight.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48602448/rockets-expected-durant-game-4

Guitarsoup said:

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Darthag11 said:

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Id go after Billy Donavon, lets be honest we have bad luck with our top picks. Reed is a role player maybe 7 or 8th player on the bench. Amen while his athleticism is off the charts can't shoot not sure if ever develops an outside shot...That's two of your top picks not really panning out.

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Donovan has 5 first round exits and 5 missed playoffs in his last ten seasons coaching

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The only counter is: Look at what he's had to work with. Chicago is one of the worst jobs in the NBA bc of ownership. Dude was making milkshakes out of dog***** And at OKC - he overachieved with a bad team. The guy has adapted to disaster roster have disaster roster and made due.

The team quit on Ime, or Ime quit on the team. I've said it earlier in the season - I believe there was a rift between head coach and front office and you can see it in Ime on the sideline. He doesn't care like he used to care and the team reflects that.

That doesn't even get into the fact htat this dude has ZERO offensive gameplan. His coaching staff in Boston was elite and picked up the areas that he can't coach.

KD has never made anyone better. He's a great talent when you have a great team, but this team regressed across the board. It was a bad move to bring him in as all these young guys deferred to him and they all got worse. Their identity is gone as defensive menaces and Amen looksl ike the only viable play on the roster worthy of being built around.

Woods Ag said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Darthag11 said:

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Id go after Billy Donavon, lets be honest we have bad luck with our top picks. Reed is a role player maybe 7 or 8th player on the bench. Amen while his athleticism is off the charts can't shoot not sure if ever develops an outside shot...That's two of your top picks not really panning out.

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Donovan has 5 first round exits and 5 missed playoffs in his last ten seasons coaching

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The only counter is: Look at what he's had to work with. Chicago is one of the worst jobs in the NBA bc of ownership. Dude was making milkshakes out of dog***** And at OKC - he overachieved with a bad team. The guy has adapted to disaster roster have disaster roster and made due.

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I agree Chicago is a bad job, but also makes you wonder why he took a bad job. If he was a great coach, couldn't he wait it out for a better job? It wasn't money, he didn't get Doc Rivers or Monty Williams ridiculous money.

I don't think he's that great an NBA coach. He's not awful, but he isn't what I am going all in for.

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I want to know what happened in that locker room this season.

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Wheels sure seemed to fall off after that Getoffmydickerson burner was exposed, right? Seems like that was legit.

I'd be OK with the rockets moving on from Durant. He's soft and pretty far from being a leader on a team that needed one.

Texas A&M said:

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I'd be OK with the rockets moving on from Durant. He's soft and pretty far from being a leader on a team that needed one.

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Yeah, Fred would have been the leader. KD can't be the guy. He isn't that guy mentally. That's why he joined Steph.

Wolves tried to get him but he didnt want to go there and I doubt Houston wants Randle.

Durant wanted Miami or Houston. Herro (expiring) and Ware (rookie deal center.) ? Cuts 6M off the Rockets cap next year and adds big depth. Ware can shoot, but is kind of an empty stat guy.

IDK where to even trade him. Ohh Nets have young players and picks... and Durant burned that bridge already.

Guitarsoup said:

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Texas A&M said:

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I'd be OK with the rockets moving on from Durant. He's soft and pretty far from being a leader on a team that needed one.

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Yeah, Fred would have been the leader. KD can't be the guy. He isn't that guy mentally. That's why he joined Steph.

Wolves tried to get him but he didnt want to go there and I doubt Houston wants Randle.

Durant wanted Miami or Houston. Herro (expiring) and Ware (rookie deal center.) ? Cuts 6M off the Rockets cap next year and adds big depth. Ware can shoot, but is kind of an empty stat guy.

IDK where to even trade him. Ohh Nets have young players and picks... and Durant burned that bridge already.

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Who are the real keepers on this roster? It's so crazy - a year ago we didn't know how to get playing time for everyone. Now, the only one I care to keep Amen.

As to where to trade him… I'd take Randle or Hero and Jacquez

Trying to look at this somewhat impartially, the Rockets and Spurs couldn't be speeding in opposite directions any more rapidly than they are right now.

Personality and team dynamic aside, Durant will be 38 next season. Throw in the stench of the end of this season that would still be lingering if he isn't moved and it's a not-great forecast.

I guess the one unknown is how Durant and FVV would
fit together on the court since that didn't happen this year.

Morbid curiosity is my primary driver for tuning in tonight. I won't be surprised if the Rockets salvage one tonight…if they don't, talk about the expectations for a series being flipped totally on their head.

Anyone who threw a few bucks on a Lakers sweep prior to the series is on the verge of a decent payout…Lakers were +6000 to sweep.

Woods Ag said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Texas A&M said:

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I'd be OK with the rockets moving on from Durant. He's soft and pretty far from being a leader on a team that needed one.

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Yeah, Fred would have been the leader. KD can't be the guy. He isn't that guy mentally. That's why he joined Steph.

Wolves tried to get him but he didnt want to go there and I doubt Houston wants Randle.

Durant wanted Miami or Houston. Herro (expiring) and Ware (rookie deal center.) ? Cuts 6M off the Rockets cap next year and adds big depth. Ware can shoot, but is kind of an empty stat guy.

IDK where to even trade him. Ohh Nets have young players and picks... and Durant burned that bridge already.

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Who are the real keepers on this roster? It's so crazy - a year ago we didn't know how to get playing time for everyone. Now, the only one I care to keep Amen.

As to where to trade him… I'd take Randle or Hero and Jacquez

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I'm a big Sengun hater, so I'm not a good source on him, but I think he is Turkish Prison Julius Randle. Pairing the two would be awful.

I think Jabari is a really solid D&3 PF, but he makes stupid decisions with the ball. He needs to be screening at the top of the arc and popping or rolling and that's it. Top of the arc, Bari is a 41% 3pt shooter. Everywhere else it is like 34-35. If you have a useful guard on the team, he's a much better player. Kind of like how Risacher fell off the face of the earth once Trae Young was traded. Risacher couldn't do anything without the looks that Trae generated. Rockets overpaid him a bit, but it looks worse than what it is because he is put in positions he shouldn't be put in.

Amen is tougher on offense because he can only really score at the rim and he is massively negative anywhere outside six feet. That's an awful position for a guy that can't really run the offense at a high level. His defense makes up for a lot of it, but with Sengun being a bad shooter and not having a real guard that can generate offense, the Rockets are much easier to exploit on offense. If he could just get a corner three, it would be completely different.

I really love FVV and Adams, but both have obvious weaknesses, even before you take into account their injury histories. Eason is a knucklehead and Reed should be a 6th man that occasionally just lights everything up for 9 of 12 from three in 22 minutes.

Guitarsoup said:

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Woods Ag said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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Texas A&M said:

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I'd be OK with the rockets moving on from Durant. He's soft and pretty far from being a leader on a team that needed one.

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Yeah, Fred would have been the leader. KD can't be the guy. He isn't that guy mentally. That's why he joined Steph.

Wolves tried to get him but he didnt want to go there and I doubt Houston wants Randle.

Durant wanted Miami or Houston. Herro (expiring) and Ware (rookie deal center.) ? Cuts 6M off the Rockets cap next year and adds big depth. Ware can shoot, but is kind of an empty stat guy.

IDK where to even trade him. Ohh Nets have young players and picks... and Durant burned that bridge already.

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Who are the real keepers on this roster? It's so crazy - a year ago we didn't know how to get playing time for everyone. Now, the only one I care to keep Amen.

As to where to trade him… I'd take Randle or Hero and Jacquez

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I'm a big Sengun hater, so I'm not a good source on him, but I think he is Turkish Prison Julius Randle. Pairing the two would be awful.

I think Jabari is a really solid D&3 PF, but he makes stupid decisions with the ball. He needs to be screening at the top of the arc and popping or rolling and that's it. Top of the arc, Bari is a 41% 3pt shooter. Everywhere else it is like 34-35. If you have a useful guard on the team, he's a much better player. Kind of like how Risacher fell off the face of the earth once Trae Young was traded. Risacher couldn't do anything without the looks that Trae generated. Rockets overpaid him a bit, but it looks worse than what it is because he is put in positions he shouldn't be put in.

Amen is tougher on offense because he can only really score at the rim and he is massively negative anywhere outside six feet. That's an awful position for a guy that can't really run the offense at a high level. His defense makes up for a lot of it, but with Sengun being a bad shooter and not having a real guard that can generate offense, the Rockets are much easier to exploit on offense. If he could just get a corner three, it would be completely different.

I really love FVV and Adams, but both have obvious weaknesses, even before you take into account their injury histories. Eason is a knucklehead and Reed should be a 6th man that occasionally just lights everything up for 9 of 12 from three in 22 minutes.

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We agree on a lot. You're not a bigger Sengun hater than me. I can't stand him and hope he's gone.

Bari is what the tweet said. Lowkey ******ed.

Eason lost the dog in him and that's what made him good. Maybe Brooks was more of an impact than we thought.

FVV gets too much credit on this board. I guess he's an oasis in a sea full of doodoo. Decent player, not great.

Adam's is a dog. Reed isn't working out. I agree 6man, maybe in the Lou Williams/jamal Crawford style. Bring him in - if he's on, ride it, if not sit him.

Amen is out of position. He's a 3, maybe a 2. He's an Amen not anything else. We need offense around him.


So when I said we'd take Randle. I would, but that's assuming Sengun gets sold for something else

I should add. All of this may change with a coach that is worth a damn. I'm so out on Ime since about November. The lack of being able to put together an offense in 2 years is enough for me. It's not lack of players - it's lack of a system and any offensive gameplan. His offense is for a playmaker to riff it.

Crazy stats if true....

Amen Thompson has played in 134 of the Rockets 149 postseason minutes so far.

Houston is winning those minutes by 7.

The 15 minutes he’s sat? Houston has been outscored by 27… (-79.8 net rating)

He’s only sat for 10% of this series and Houston has been fried in that time. pic.twitter.com/6s3KwxUX2G

— Bradeaux (@BradeauxNBA) April 25, 2026

The problem is that you have too many players that you have to build around in a very specific way. Amen is someone you need shooters around and you need someone else to run the offense so he can cut and dunk.

But Sengun needs a real rim protector and shooters to space out so he can post up, but because he is a bad shooter, teams just let him get it at the high post. So you have two non-shooters that have to be set up by someone. That doesn't work together when neither is a real shooter.

Fred should have been transitioning to bench leader this year, similar to Harrison Barnes, but Stone never brought it a real point guard for no apparent reason.

I think Bari would be a great role player if you weren't asking him to do too much, but this team doesn't have an identity and he has to do too much. He's the easiest player on the team to keep and integrate with anyone, because everyone needs a D&3 PF. But he should be a ~14/7 guy shooting 38-40% from three. But expect him to do more than that and he's gonna mess up.

Likewise, Reed is an easy to slot in 6th man bench flamethrower, so like you said, see if he is hot and if not sit him.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a Sengun/Giannis type move. At least Giannis can initiate offense somewhat. I wouldn't do it, but it makes somewhat of sense if you think the Rockets can win next year with Adams, Giannis, Durant, Amen, FVV, Reed, Jabari.

Guitarsoup said:

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The problem is that you have too many players that you have to build around in a very specific way. Amen is someone you need shooters around and you need someone else to run the offense so he can cut and dunk.

But Sengun needs a real rim protector and shooters to space out so he can post up, but because he is a bad shooter, teams just let him get it at the high post. So you have two non-shooters that have to be set up by someone. That doesn't work together when neither is a real shooter.

Fred should have been transitioning to bench leader this year, similar to Harrison Barnes, but Stone never brought it a real point guard for no apparent reason.

I think Bari would be a great role player if you weren't asking him to do too much, but this team doesn't have an identity and he has to do too much. He's the easiest player on the team to keep and integrate with anyone, because everyone needs a D&3 PF. But he should be a ~14/7 guy shooting 38-40% from three. But expect him to do more than that and he's gonna mess up.

Likewise, Reed is an easy to slot in 6th man bench flamethrower, so like you said, see if he is hot and if not sit him.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a Sengun/Giannis type move. At least Giannis can initiate offense somewhat. I wouldn't do it, but it makes somewhat of sense if you think the Rockets can win next year with Adams, Giannis, Durant, Amen, FVV, Reed, Jabari.

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The problem with that lineup is you had Giannis, Adam's, Amen as non shooters. It's the same problem as with Sengun. Giannis is just a 10x better version. Giannis needs a shooting 5 so that he has space to drive.

Totally agree, but still think they might try it.

After 5 year rebuild, you can't just completely tear it down again to rebuild after two first round exits.

I also wouldn't give up anything more than the Rockets gave up for Durant to get Giannis. He's too reliant on his athleticism and has been too injury prone. I dont trust him.

The Chris Paul vibes to this thing just have me disgusted.

Marcus Smart has never committed a foul in his life

Adios Ayton!

Marcus Smart is such a *****

Live to play another day

I don't think Marcus Smart has stopped talking for more than 2 seconds the entire series. He's insufferable.

7 posts during a playoff game has to be thread record.

Think most checked out.

We were under tornado watch the whole time and every station had the weather on so couldn't watch

WES2006AG said:

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CharleyKerfeld said:

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7 posts during a playoff game has to be thread record.

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Yea, I think we have pretty much all soured on this version of the Rockets.

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CharleyKerfeld said:

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7 posts during a playoff game has to be thread record.

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I have a pretty simple philosophy when it comes to my pro sports teams… They quit, I quit.

CharleyKerfeld said:

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7 posts during a playoff game has to be thread record.

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Definitely not as lively as some of our past playoff runs, but I think a lot of that has to do with expectations.....

There’s some buzz building that Kevin Durant may have already played his final game with the Rockets.

Durant, who signed an extension before the season, is under contract for $43.9 million in 2026-27.

The Heat and Knicks could be teams to monitor, if Durant wants out yet again. pic.twitter.com/A8EJSNmjg3

— Evan Sidery (@esidery) April 27, 2026

Just a note that Sidery is not like Shams or Woj, he is an engagement clown that posts all kinds of things in high volume with no back end knowledge.

He very well may be right here, but he's more than likely throwing **** against the wall and seeing what sticks.