Preseason Preview: Houston Rockets

Preseason Preview: Houston Rockets

What’s good y’all? Welcome back to another preseason preview video. In today’s video, we’re going over the Houston Rockets. In case this is your first preseason preview video of mine that you’re seeing, basically what I do is look over the off seasonason, give a little recap there, and then look into the future and try to see what we can expect from this team going into the season. I’m going to be dropping a video on all 30 NBA teams, so make sure you check out the channel to see the ones I already have uploaded and subscribe so you don’t miss the ones going forward. Uh, without further ado though, let’s just jump right in for the Houston Rockets. Last season, they’re coming off one of the biggest success in the NBA. I would say besides the Detroit Pistons, the Rockets were the biggest success story in the NBA. They were the second seed out west. They finished with a record of 52 and 30. And that is super super impressive and surprising because going into last year, people didn’t really have a lot of expectations for the Houston Rockets. Uh, you know, the year before that they were looked at as just like a young upand cominging fun type of team. No one expect them to be the two seed. No one expect them to go into the playoffs and and really be trouble for the Golden State Warriors. They brought them all the way to seven before they fell in the first round. And there’s a lot of reasons why that happened, like Amen Thompson having a breakout year. like Alre Shangon being a firsttime all-star. Uh again, really successful year last year, but I really think that that’s just the building blocks because this year they’re poised to have an even better year. And that brings us right into the off season of the Houston Rockets. Before we talk about the guys they brought in, I do want to give a quick highlight to the guys they lost. Uh obviously, they made a big trade. I won’t talk about for who just yet, but in that trade, they shipped away Jaylen Green and Dylan Brooks, two real key contributors, two starters on this team last year. Both of those guys got shipped away to Phoenix. Uh, and real quick, I do want to say, I know Jaylen Green had a really, really rough playoffs and and that’s putting it lightly to be honest. He had like one game where he was looking good. Besides that, really inefficient, really inconsistent. And I do think that that was kind of what triggered the Rockets to say, “All right, he’s the odd man out.” Cuz when you look at this roster, they have a lot of young talent like Alprren Shangon and Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr. Uh, you know, they have loads of guys in this core and I think that Jaylen Green unfortunately was a casualty to this young core because like I said, super inconsistent. They kind of set their vision on what this team could look like when they are on that top level of contention. Jaylen Green was the odd man out and that’s the reason he got traded. And that’s no disrespect to Jaylen Green. I do think that Jaylen Green is going to be a good valuable NBA player in this league. He is a starter caliber player. Some people even say he is an all-star caliber player. Uh that’s yet to be seen. But I I do think that no Houston Rockets fan is really crying over the loss of Jaylen Green, especially we consider who they brought in. And I kind of have the same sentiment for Dylan Brooks. I think he was a great guy to come here and start to change that winning culture for Houston. I think he is a very valuable defender and a a highlevel starting caliber player in the NBA. Again though, when you talk about what you’re giving up to what you’re bringing in, I think the value is there. I think it was a no-brainer trade. Uh but, you know, shout out Dylan Brooks for really coming here and really changing the culture of the Rockets. That wasn’t the only trade the Rockets made, though. They also shipped off Cam Whitmore to the Washington Wizards in exchange for two second round picks. So obviously it’s it’s not as big as a deal. Nowhere comparing. Uh but still Cam Whitmore it was kind of obvious this move was coming. He fell out of the rotation for Eay Udoka. Didn’t really fit the scheme that that Eay wants to run in Houston. I still have pretty high hopes for Cam Whitmore. I think he is an incredible scorer, great athletic guy. Uh, and now that he’s going to Washington, I think he has a chance to really showcase that. And I do want to say the Rockets came out and said that they could have gotten better, more lucrative deals, but they wanted to send Cam Whitmore somewhere where he can benefit from that, too. Uh, and I think that, you know, everyone talks about how the NBA is a business and all of this, how it’s cold. I I do think that it is really dope that the Rockets did that for Cam. You know, they drafted him. It didn’t really work out, but they still wanted to set him up in a position where he could still succeed. Uh, so shout out to the Rockets for for doing good for Cam. And now it is time to talk about the guys the Rockets brought in. And of course, the number one biggest probably biggest move of the offseason. Yeah, was Kevin Durant coming to the Houston Rockets. Uh, that of course was the trade that shipped out Jaylen Green, shipped out Dylan Brook, shipped out the 10th overall pick in exchange for Kevin Durant. I made a video when this trade first went down. If you really want my in-depth uh first type of reaction to this trade, make sure you check that out on the channel. Uh but I I’ve said it then and I’m still saying it now. I think that this move is absolutely perfect for the Houston Rockets. We saw it in chunks of the regular season and then even more in the postseason. Uh their biggest issue was halfcourt offense. They are a super athletic team. They’re a super young team. They are a super defensive team. But when it comes to that half court offense, things could get a little sluggish at times. And Kevin Durant is one of the greatest, if not the absolute greatest halfcourt scorer we have ever seen play the game of basketball. So obviously that’s a perfect puzzle piece fix right there. He’s going to be able to come in and really help the Rockets get some of those looks off, whether that’s in the mid-range from his three-point shot. Uh, we all know Kevin Durant can score on every spot on the floor. And even beyond the onc court, you know, tangible stuff that Kevin Durant brings to the Rockets. I think a super important part is his leadership and his championship pedigree. I was just talking about how Dylan Brooks got traded and he was one of the guys that really shifted this culture, was one of their vets in the locker room. Uh they still have other guys like a Fred Vanble or a Jeff Green, but I think Kevin Durant coming here, he can really be a leader to this team and to a lot of these young players and really help them elevate their games and make sure that they know what it takes to win a championship in the NBA. KD wasn’t the only vet that the Rockets brought in, though. They also signed Dorian Finny Smith to a 4-year $53 million deal. So, he’ll be making about $13 million for the next four years. This was a super under the radar or unexpected rather signing. I thought it was pretty much a lock that Dorian Finny Smith was going to resign with the Lakers. Uh but when he comes over to Houston again, he is another kind of like puzzle piece fitting guy here. I think he just comes in and does exactly what the Rockets want from their wings. He has size. He has versatility defensively. And number one part of it, he shoots the three ball because that was another real big issue for the Rockets was the three-point shooting. Dorian Finny Smith allows them to add that three-point shooting without giving up these other two things of size and defending. And they’re also having a little bit of a homecoming for Clint Capella. He is coming back to the Houston Rockets. He signed a three-year 21.5 million deal. This one was very un unexpected. I said that about Dorian Finny Smith, but this Clink Capella thing, I had no idea that this was even in the cards for the Rockets because obviously they have first time all-star Alprin Shenon at that center position. They have Steven Adams who had a great playoff run and then they came in and signed Clint Capella. Now there’s two ways of thinking in my eyes for this move. The first one is in the playoffs we saw them run some double big lineups where it’s outr Shangon next to a Steven Adams type. So maybe they wanted to bring in a third center just to add to their depth and want to lean more into that double big lineup. Or the other uh option that I’ve seen floated around on Twitter and things are some people said that they just immediately signed Clink Capella to block him from signing from the Lakers. Obviously, we all know the Lakers, one of their biggest holes on their roster was center coming into this offseason. Clink Capella would have been a a good quality center for them to sign. If that’s the case, I mean, that’s a little big brain in my eyes. You know, they’re really playing chess here, signing a guy to stop one of their conference rivals from signing it. I don’t know if they thought too much into it like that or maybe they just really wanted Clink Capella on the roster. Either way, he’s here and he is a quality player. And while we’re talking about their offseason moves real quick, I do want to highlight some of the moves they made about players that were already on the roster. First off, they restructured Fred Van Vleet’s deal. Instead of just accepting his $50 million player option, they reworked it. So, he’s getting that 50 mil first, uh, but he’s also stretching it over two years. So, he signed a 2-year, $50 million deal where that second year is a player option. So, instead of getting 50 M this year, he chopped that in half to 25. Shout out to Fred Vanble Vleet for really working that out. It allowed them to make a lot of those other moves I just talked about. And then they also resigned some of their guys to vet minimums. Those guys include Aaron Holiday, J Shante, and Jeff Green. All guys signed a one-year vet minimum contract. And now that we recap the off seasonason, let’s take a look at a potential depth chart we could be seeing from the Houston Rockets. The starting lineup is looking really good on paper. We have Fred Van Vleet, Amen Thompson, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., and Alprin Shangun. And then off the bench, we have Aaron Holiday, Reed Shepard, Tari Een, Dorian Finny Smith, and Steven Adams. The first thing that jumps off the page when I look at that screen right there is the amount of versatile and big wings the Rockets have on their roster. In their starting lineup alone, they have Amen Thompson, Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., these three guys are super super interesting players in my eyes because they all do multiple things. I mentioned Amen Thompson’s breakout season last year at the beginning of the video. He does so much on the court, whether it’s his rebounding, uh pushing it in transition, which he is one of the best transition players in the NBA right now. Uh cutting to the basket, his playmaking, he has some really good passes that he can make. Uh you know, defending, he can guard one through four. Basically, he does a lot on the court and that seems like that is a theme that the Rockets want to run because Jabari Smith Jr., he rebounds the ball, shoots the ball. I think he’s super underrated as a defender being able to play up and play down defensively. Uh Kevin Durant, you know, we’ve mentioned his elite level scoring, but also in his older age, he’s become more complete player. When you talk about his playmaking or his shot blocking does a lot there. Uh and then that versatility still does not stop because off the bench they have a guy like Dorian Finny Smith who I was just talking about his 3 and D capability. Also, Tari Een, one of the most energetic players that really will just be, you know, spark plug, but not in the normal scoring sense, but in a energy, force turnovers, uh, get tough rebounds, and because of how versatile those guys are. I could see lineups where damn near all five are on the court at once because you have a guy like Amen Thompson who is more, you know, like I said, a lengthy wing, but can play point guard. Jabari Smith Jr. Last year he looked really good when Alpern Shenun went down and he was playing center even though he’s more of a power forward with length. Uh then you have Dorian Finny Smith, Kevin Durant, and Tari Eing kind of just filling out the rest. That is a super long versatile switchable lineup that I I’m pretty sure we probably will be seeing in this coming season. They’re not forced to play like that though. They still do have true bigs of Alprren Shenon, which I’m a huge fan of. Uh he was a first-time all-star last year. I don’t know if he’ll repeat as an all-star this year if he’ll take another step in his game or not. Uh but regardless what he does rebounding the ball as a paint presence, uh posting up, his mid-range shot is there. Playmaking wise, he does a lot for them as well. I mentioned Steven Adams having his incredible playoff run. He came into the year injured, but as the year went on, he looked like he was more solidified and confident in himself. Uh and that really showed on the basketball court as well. He’s one of the best screen setters, one of the best offensive rebounders in the league. It’s no doubt that the Rockets have loads of talent. The the one position where I feel like they could be lacking a little bit is guard, more specifically off the bench. Uh in this potential rotation, I had Aaron Holiday and Reed Shepard as their guards off the bench. Uh I’m not 100% confident that that’s what it’s going to be by the end of the year, but I do think that both of those guys could bring some value. Aaron Holiday, I think, is pretty underrated. I think he is more defensive oriented, though. He’ll come in, even though he’s only 6′ tall. He’ll compete defensively and be a very good ball stopper. He’ll pick someone up full court, chase them around those screens, just be an aggravator. And I think that there is value there. But when you look offensively, he doesn’t bring too much to the floor. Uh Reed Shepard is the guy that they would look to more offensively from the guard off their bench, but he is only going into year two. Year one, he didn’t really have any concrete playing time. So, he’s more of a a question mark in my mind. I don’t know what really to expect. Can he be a top level sixman like he was at Kentucky? Yeah, he could. Can he also have a little bit of a disappointing year and and not really have that solidified role like he did his rookie season? Yeah, he he could. I don’t know how much of an issue that will really be considering they have guys like Fred Van Vleet and Amen Thompson in their starting lineup. Also, we’ve seen before where Kevin Durant plays a little bit a point guard or Alpine Shenon plays point guard through the post in a Jokicesque type of way. So, I don’t know if it’ll really be detrimental to them. It’s just their biggest weakness that I’m seeing so far. And before we move on, I do want to highlight some notable reserves that didn’t make the rotation for me, but are still on the roster. and I think could make an impact. The first one of course is Clint Capella. I mentioned that it was a little bit weird when they signed him. Uh, and as you see right here, he doesn’t have a cutout role for him going in, at least in my eyes. But again, I could see them kind of leaning more towards that double big lineup and there’ll be games where they run a three center rotation. That could happen. At the worst though, he is a third string center that is there in case there’s some injuries or maybe it comes to the trade deadline. they see that his contract is valuable uh and he fills up some salary filler and they get traded away for someone else that really is a contributor. And then also I want to highlight Josh Aki real quick. I’m a pretty big fan of Josh Kogi. I love what he brings defensively. Unfortunately, he doesn’t bring much more besides that, but uh defensively and energy-wise, he’s a very good player. He just brings a little bit more size than a guy like Aaron Holiday brings. So I could see uh certain instances where he gets the nod off the bench as that guard as that defensive oriented guard rather over a guy like a Aaron Holiday. And now it is time to talk about the ceiling floor and my expectations for the Houston Rockets. Starting off with their ceiling, I can see them being as good as the number one seed. I mean, it doesn’t take a genius to kind of guess this out. The Rockets were the number two seed last year. They won 50 plus games. and they were a super young team and they added Kevin Durant. So, there’s there’s enough there for me with the addition of Kevin Durant and then also just looking at their team and seeing some potential internal growth where obviously at their ceiling they could be that number one seed they were not close to it because last year the Thunder had a pretty big gap on everyone else in the West, but like I said, second seed, added talent. I could see them making that jump. And then when you talk about the playoffs, I mean, this might be a hot take. I don’t know really what other people in the community and just in the NBA world are thinking about it. In the playoffs though, at their ceiling, I could see the Houston Rockets being NBA champions. That’s how high I am on them. I think that they’re still going to be elite defensively. Uh I think that they have some really high quality young pieces that will be better this year. And then again, you add Kevin Durant into that. I don’t think I mentioned it yet in the video, but I do think that this team on paper is the best roster that Kevin Durant has been a part of. Besides the Warriors, obviously those Warriors teams were were unfair. If you exclude those though, when you talk about the Phoenix Suns or the Brooklyn Nets, even some of those Thunder teams, I think on paper, this Rockets team is the most talented. Then when you look at their floor, I can see them being as low as the fifth seed. This says more about how talented the Western Conference is than how bad or how low I think the Rockets could be. I think that they are solidified, locked as one of the best teams in the Western Conference. There’s just a lot of really good teams in this Western Conference. So, at their floor, I could see them being as low as the fifth seed. But for playoffs, I do think that even if they fall to that fifth seed, they can pull off the upset of the four five matchup. Even though it’s usually a pick them in that series, I think that they could win that one. Uh when you look further on though at their floor, I could see them being just a tough second round exit. But when you talk about my expectations for the Houston Rockets, I expect them to be either that two or three seed. I’m going to lock them in at that two seed though. Uh again, kind of like what I was saying about their ceiling. I just am really, really high on this team. I think that they don’t really have too many weaknesses and have so much talent. I’m picking them or I expect them to be the second seed. Uh, and then for playoff-wise, uh, it it would be really tough for me to expect anyone to dethrone the OKC Thunder, but I do expect this Rockets team to have a very deep playoff push and make it all the way to the Western Conference Finals. Whatever happens there, I don’t know, but I do expect them to make it that far. What do you guys think though? Let me know in the comments below how far you think the Houston Rockets can make it this year. How far in the playoffs? And then also, let me know in the standings where do you think they’ll end off? Hope you guys enjoyed this video. If you did, make sure to leave it a like, subscribe so you don’t miss the next one. In the description, there’s links to all my social media, so make sure you follow me on all those to keep up to date with me.

During my Preseason Preview series I will be covering all 30 NBA teams, recapping their offseason, assessing their roster, and predicting what to expect from them in this coming season. In this video, I cover the Houston Rockets.

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