Brutal Durant/Rockets twist vindicates Spurs free agency moves once again

Just a couple of hours before the first game in the opening playoff round between the Lakers and Rockets, Kevin Durant was ruled out. This was a devastating blow to a Houston team that has been struggling with offense all season. A 37-year-old KD and their defense were what powered them to the fifth-best record in the West, but now, when they need the Slim Reaper most, he's compromised.

The frustrating part about this development for Houston fans has to be knowing that he played 78 games this season. He was one of the healthiest players on their team—until he wasn't. And that's the problem with adding old guys to your roster. Even when they're beating the odds, getting nicked at the wrong time can be catastrophic.

Durant was seemingly fine until he bumped knees with a teammate in practice. Now, he's not only dealing with pain, but his movement has been "limited?" That's not something the Spurs could afford while entering their first playoffs in seven years. Thankfully, they passed up on the chance to add KD when they had it, and they did it for a reason that continues to prove them right.

The Spurs' depth has proved more than enough this season

This isn't disrespect to Durant. I may not love his infamous decision to sign with Golden State many moons ago, but that's far in the past at this point. He's going to be a first-ballot Hall-of-Fame player, and the offensive assassin deserves to be treated as such, despite what may or may not be true about how he conducts himself on social media.

That doesn't change San Antonio's reality, though. They stayed true to their philosophy of drafting and developing guys. When the reports of Durant's interest in the 210 began circulating, it was very exciting. There's no need to lie about that.

Spurs fans aren't used to stars clamoring to head to South Texas, and after De'Aaron Fox made the city his preferred destination, hearing that the Slim Reaper felt similarly was exhilarating. The market tides were turning, and all of a sudden, Alamo City went from not to hot real quick. We all know it's primarily due to Victor Wembanyama, but the reason for the change doesn't matter. It's cool.

Fortunately, the folks running the Spurs organization aren't enamored with "cool." They didn't get caught up in the excitement of an aging star's desires. Once they saw what Phoenix was asking, they opted to pass, believing in the talent they already had on the roster. Do I think they would have made a deal if the terms were considered favorable? Possibly. We may never know.

What we do know is that the staff trusted the players already on the team and the work they had put into them. The Spurs had a volcanic eruption of a year with a shot at a title as a result. Meanwhile, the Rockets are in danger of losing to a Lakers team without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. That's a terrible look.

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