The opening night of the 2025-26 NBA regular season may not have featured the Phoenix Suns, but that doesn't mean it wasn't entertaining. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets serving us up a double-overtime classic that had a little bit of everything. It also served as a timely reminder that yes, Kevin Durant is still one of the best players in the world.
Although Durant, Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson rightly got most of the praise for how the Rockets performed - while Reed Sheppard most certainly did not - it is clear they have built a roster that is capable of contending in the Western Conference. They have sneaky depth too - and if you look to the end of their bench - you'll find a former Sun who is already helping them defensively.
Josh Okogie has found a home in Houston.
Lost in the shuffle of the first game back on NBC/Peacock, was the fact that Josh Okogie is now with the Rockets. You might remember Okogie was sacrificed last season, sent to the Charlotte Hornets so that the Suns could bolster their center rotation and acquire Nick Richards. A player they would surely now love to move on to this franchise in the East.
Josh Okogie is going to be so much more important for the Rockets this season than people think
— league enjoyer (@pjtuckerfann) October 16, 2025
That was a move designed to keep Durant happy, and now the pair are playing together in Houston. Still only 27-years-old, Okogie played 20 minutes off the bench in the double overtime loss, and the fact he did not look out of place against the best team in the league shows you how much he is capable of providing for a winning team.
In fact you could make the argument Okogie would actually excel off the bench for the Thunder, as part of the varied defensive lineups of death they regularly create in a lab somewhere. Okogie is a credible 3-point shooter - meaning he can spread the floor for the likes of Durant and Thompson - but it is his ability to defend much bigger players than him that will be his real value here.
The Rockets will be trotting out the tallest starting lineup in league history at times this season, but Okogie can be an underrated departure from that when he enters the game. Smaller, but also well able to hang with bigger forwards, while maintaining a lot of the quickness needed to guard out on the perimeter as well.
Okogie rightly received a lot of love when he was with the Suns, but this is a much better situation for him. Less offensively pressure - and minutes in general - while also playing on a much more balanced roster. He may have been sent into the wilderness that was Charlotte for part of last season, but Okogie is rightly back where he belongs on a contending team.