Kevin Durant & Alperen Sengun Not Safe as Rockets Reveal Only Untouchable Player in Trade Talks, Per Insider

With the curtain coming down on the 2025-26 season, every NBA team is now focused on the future. Some are expected to pursue particularly aggressive overhauls, including the Houston Rockets, who underachieved despite assembling what appeared to be one of the league's strongest rosters. As a result, recent reports suggest that every player on the roster, except for one, is now considered tradeable.

"The Rockets are willing to listen to trade offers for Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun," NBA insider Kelly Iko reported. "Amen Thompson is the only 'near untouchable' player on the Rockets' roster."

Last season, the Rockets secured the fifth seed, and while many expected them to make a deep playoff run, they were eliminated in the first round after losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games. LeBron James, who averaged 24 points per game at age 41, proved he could still lead the Lakers to success. However, there is no denying that Sengun underperformed in critical moments. Durant, meanwhile, was limited to just one appearance because of a knee issue. With that in mind, it appears the Rockets are open to moving on from both stars.

Durant's acquisition last season was intended to bolster the Rockets' lineup. However, things did not go according to plan for Houston. In the 2024-25 season, the Rockets secured the second seed in the Western Conference. Falling to fifth place the following season represented a clear step backward for the team.

As of this writing, the Rockets have yet to make offers to other teams. Some sources have suggested that Houston is not actively looking to trade Durant and Sengun. However, if the right offer comes along, the Rockets may be open to moving either player.

For Durant, leaving Houston would add another stain to his legacy. He has been trying to prove himself as a championship-caliber talent since leaving the Golden State Warriors in 2019. But he fell short in Brooklyn and then again in Phoenix. To date, the Warriors remain the only team with which Durant has won an NBA title, winning two championships alongside Stephen Curry.

Kevin Durant Looks Back at Joining the Warriors in 2016

During the summer of 2016, Kevin Durant dropped a bombshell on the NBA world when he decided to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder and join the Golden State Warriors. It was a move few saw coming at the time. Many expected Durant, Russell Westbrook, and the Thunder to return the following season with revenge on their minds after blowing a 3-1 lead and being eliminated by the Warriors in the playoffs. Instead, Durant chose to join the very team that had knocked Oklahoma City out, a decision that many Thunder fans viewed as a betrayal and one that undeniably weakened an otherwise strong roster.

While the move itself was shocking enough, Durant's recent comments about joining the Warriors were even more shocking. During an interview with KD on Million Dollaz Worth of Game, the Houston Rockets star shockingly called the Warriors "underdogs" when he joined the team in 2016.

"They never been a winning organization," Durant said about the 2016 Warriors. "When I was in the league, nobody liked Golden State. It felt like they're still like an underdog to me. I'm looking at the totality of the franchise, not what happened the last five years."

Calling a team that went 73-9 just a year befor Durant joined an "underdog" certainly raises a lot of eyebrows. They did lose the finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers that year, but it's not like Curry and Co. didn't have title-winning experience. They won the whole thing just one year ago. But KD, in his mind, had his reasons.

And whatever Durant's intentions were, it worked out. He won the ring with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018, also winning the Finals MVP in both seasons. Many felt Curry and the Warriors helped him. But in reality, Durant, too, helped the Warriors.