Report: Rockets want Harden to recruit Durant in 2016

Assuming he hits the free agent market in 2016, Kevin Durant will be one of the most highly sought after free agents in NBA - and sports - history.

Durant has always seemed happy playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder, but his hometown Washington Wizards will surely hope to pry him away, as will virtually every other team in the Association.

With the league's salary cap expected to skyrocket over the next couple of years thanks to a new $24 billion television deal, almost all 30 teams could open up maximum cap space, even the ones with multiple stars already in the fold.

The Houston Rockets are one such team, and they'll have the benefit of having a former Durant teammate - James Harden - on their side.

According to ESPN's Marc Stein, in 2016, the Rockets would "like to give Harden an opportunity to serve as Houston's lead recruiter in the pursuit of a free agent named Kevin Wayne Durant."

Anything and everything related to Durant's future free agency - and there will be a ton of it - is simply conjecture at this point, but if Harden can serve as a recruiting advantage in two years time, that's still an advantage most teams don't have.

Harden and Durant spent three seasons together in Oklahoma City, advancing to The Finals in 2011 before Harden was traded to the Rockets the following summer because he and the Thunder couldn't reach an agreement on a contract extension.