Draymond Green sees Fred VanVleet, Kevin Durant as good cultural match in Houston

USA Today

a day ago

Draymond Green on the pairing of Kevin Durant and Fred VanVleet with the Rockets: 'Certain things that KD doesn't like to do, Fred will do that. In team sports, that's how it's supposed to work.'
Warriors veteran Draymond Green has plenty of experience playing alongside Kevin Durant in Golden State, and he's also faced off against Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet in multiple high-leverage, competitive series in the NBA playoffs.
With that knowledge, Green envisions the veteran pairing of Durant and VanVleet working well in Houston.
From his latest podcast (The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis):
Shoutout to Freddy V, he got a new two-year deal to stay with the Rockets. Well deserved, the way I saw him lead that team in the playoffs. They're going to need his leadership. I think with Fred's demeanor and how Fred goes about things, and with KD and how KD goes about things… I think it'll be a good match.
Some of the stuff that (Kevin) doesn't want to do, people try to make it an indictment on his character. No. We're all human beings, and we all have strengths and we all have weaknesses. Certain things that KD doesn't like to do, Fred will do that. On a basketball team in team sports, that's how it's supposed to work. So, I think this puts them in a really good position. They're obviously going to be a team to be reckoned with. That team is in a really good position, and I definitely think it (the Durant trade) is an upgrade.
Green and the Warriors got the best of the Rockets in the first round of the recently completed 2025 playoffs. But the series went a full seven games, even with (now departed) Jalen Green struggling, and VanVleet was likely Houston's best player. Now, with Durant playing alongside VanVleet in that top-scorer role, the Rockets would seem to be more formidable for any potential rematch.
As for the leadership and cultural angles, Green's comments largely mesh with the sentiments of ESPN's Tim MacMahon. On Thursday's First Take, MacMahon said the Rockets simply need Durant to focus on what he does best.
That's being an elite scorer and producing at an All-Star level, which he continued to do last season at 36 years old.
'This is not a team that has a leadership void,' MacMahon said in a discussion regarding whether Durant needs to be more of a vocal leader with the Rockets.
'This is a team that has a phenomenal culture. They're tough, they're nasty. They need freaking buckets, and Kevin Durant can supply those in bunches.'
In short, the Rockets were 52-30 and No. 2 in the Western Conference in large part because of their leadership and culture. What they needed was simply more shot making to revive a halfcourt offense that largely struggled throughout the 2024-25 season.
That's what VanVleet and head coach Ime Udoka want Durant's help with during the 2025-26 campaign, which begins in October.
More: ESPN's Tim MacMahon: Buckets, not leadership, is what Houston needs most from Kevin Durant