Rafael Stone’s latest comments will be music to Kevin Durant’s ears

Kevin Durant’s first season in Houston was nearly perfect until an injury took him out of the playoffs following a huge load in the regular season. The Rockets know they can’t afford to push him in the same way next season, and are already hard at work to lower his workload. Whether it’s by acquiring new talent to give Durant some breathing room or having younger players step up, the Rockets are determined to lessen his minutes next season.

General manager Rafael Stone emphasized the organization’s priority on lowering Durant’s load during a brief summer league interview:

“I definitely want to take some of the load off Kevin. Last year I do think he played too many minutes”

Durant had an absurd workload last season

We cannot forget that Durant turned 37 before last season even started, yet played the second-most minutes in the entire NBA during the regular season. Naturally, the only guy who played more than him was his teammate Amen Thompson, who proved himself to the Rockets by carrying a huge load of his own. But Thompson’s body is much more equipped to handle that minutes load considering he is 14 years younger than Durant.

It’s a miracle that KD is even still playing in the NBA at his age, let alone racking up so many minutes and earning an All-NBA Second Team selection. But that high demand on his body sadly had the expected effect by the time the playoffs rolled around. Durant got injured during a routine practice heading into the playoffs and missed all but one game of the Rockets’ first-round series loss.

Obviously, Durant needs more opportunities to rest unless the Rockets want to run him into the ground again. Houston should be focused on adding and developing young talent that can generate efficient offense even without Durant on the floor. Last season, it felt like Durant was the only reliable source of scoring at many points, which led to him playing more than he should have.

The Rockets need a fix quickly

Unfortunately, there hasn’t been an apparent fix to the Rockets’ roster just yet. Sure, they get Fred VanVleet back from injury and also added two other point guards in Marcus Smart and Bruce Thornton. But none of those three are proven advantage creators anymore who can come close to replicating Durant’s offensive impact.

When the going gets tough and points are hard to come by, the Rockets may still be forced to rely on Durant more than anything else. If the front office is serious about competing for a title with him before his body breaks down completely, they need to add substantial offensive talent to this team. That’ll be the only way to let Ime Udoka feel comfortable actually reducing KD’s minutes to a reasonable load.