With Ime Udoka as their coach, Houston went from 20 wins to 41 in 2023-24. The key for that improvement was a much better defense as the Rockets were coming from three seasons where they were a bottom four unit in the league to being #7. Houston started last season hoping that they would continue improving and that happened as the Rockets’ defense was even better (#4 ranked) while their offense also improved. The result of that was Houston ending the regular season with a 52-30 record and the #2 seed.
Offensively, it was impressive how Houston managed to be a borderline top 10 unit even though they were still one of the worst shooting teams in the league. They achieved that while really not attempting threes (#28 in 3pts vol% rate). That should be impossible in a modern NBA, but the Rockets managed to do that by being the best rebounding team in the last 10 years with an impressive 35.4% offensive rebound rate. They pounded their opponents on the glass and their physical play was overwhelming for most teams.
However, the Rockets still had some problems on offense down the stretch as their two main ball handlers (Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green) were really inefficient shooters. In order to solve that, Houston traded Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks for Kevin Durant. This trade was favorable for the Rockets, as they had enough defensive talent to replace Brooks and they still signed Dorian Finney-Smith who has also been a very solid 3&D player in the league. As Jalen Green never showed to be a completely valid option for the team’s future, his lack of development made him dispensable.
The Rockets won’t change their style this season as they will continue to play big to crush their opponents on the boards. They signed Clint Capela to add depth to a Center position that will surely be the most complete of the league with Sengun, Adams and Capela.
When things looked great, some terrible news arrived: VanVleet got injured and he will be out for the season. FVV had a key role last season in terms of leadership and defense, however his shooting numbers were abysmal: 37.8% FG and 34.5% 3pts. VanVleet’s on/off numbers were excellent, especially without Jalen Green, but I think this shows more about Green’s lack of value than FVV’s importance on the team.
However, the Rockets weren’t prepared for this injury. VanVleet’s backup was expected to be sophomore Reed Sheppard who did not play much last season and he also did not have a great summer league. Now with FVV injured, the Rockets will really need Sheppard to play up to his potential that made Rockets select him with the #3 overall pick.
Amen Thompson will be the team’s most important player this season. Without VanVleet, Amen will have more volume on offense and he might even become their main ball handler during crunch time. His playmaking ability isn’t amazing (3.8 apg vs 2.0TO/game last season), but the Rockets should end up using Sengun the same way Denver uses Jokic as their main offensive hub.
Houston was supposed to be OKC’s main rival in the West during the regular season. However, without FVV that will be hard to materialize. If that ends up happening anyway, then that would mean that Amen Thompson has transformed into an all star caliber player.