Barring injury, Kevin Durant, Amen Thompson, Alperen Sengun, and Jabari Smith Jr. will all start, head coach Ime Udoka said at Saturday’s practice. The fifth spot remains to be determined.
Earlier this week, head coach Ime Udoka said that the Houston Rockets had four established starters and were still evaluating the fifth.
Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun were All-Stars last season, and Amen Thompson had star-level impact upon joining Houston’s starting lineup midway through the year. So, three of the four names were already known.
At Saturday’s training camp practice, Udoka confirmed what many around the team had long suspected: fourth-year forward Jabari Smith Jr. is the fourth.
Smith had previously earned praise from Udoka for a strong offseason and was widely considered as likely to rejoin the starting lineup, even before Fred VanVleet suffered a potentially season ending knee injury.
With three NBA seasons under his belt, Smith started for approximately his first two-and-a-half seasons before breaking his hand in a practice last January.
From there, Thompson excelled as a starter, and Smith played off the bench in a sixth-man role after eventually returning from injury.
But the Rockets traded away two starters (Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green) to acquire Durant, which opened up one spot, and the loss of VanVleet opened yet another.
So, within the first few days of training camp, it seems Smith has already done enough to secure one of those two slots. The apparent synergies between Smith and Durant certainly don’t hurt, either.
In 30.1 minutes per game last season, Smith averaged 12.2 points (43.8% FG, 35.4% on 3-pointers) and 7.0 rebounds while also becoming one of Houston’s most valuable and versatile defenders. The Rockets finished among the NBA’s top-five teams in defensive rating.
Furthermore, at 22 years old, Smith remains young enough to where further improvements are quite plausible. Drafted at No. 3 overall in the 2022 first round, many scouts viewed Smith as a potential star-level talent following his college days at Auburn.
As for the final spot in Houston’s starting lineup, it is unlikely to go (at least initially) to veteran forward Dorian Finney-Smith, who is still recovering from offseason ankle surgery and is unlikely to be cleared by the Oct. 21 regular-season opener.
So, that leaves three primary options for the Rockets in guard Reed Sheppard; wing Tari Eason; and center Steven Adams.
Ultimately, it could come down to matchups or Udoka’s stylistic preferences, and it might change depending on the opponent.
“It could be,” Udoka said of potentially changing his lineup on a regular basis. “It’s something we looked at, regardless of before Fred was [injured]. But at the same time, continuity is good, and keeping guys confident and not second-guessing. It takes some maturity if you want to do that kind of rotational lineup, and some things are beneficial to start that way.”
“But at the same time, guys are taking some steps and showed a lot of progress and worked extremely hard, so you want to reward that,” Udoka added. “We’ll see what we get to.”
I asked Ime Udoka with the injury to Fred and the depth especially in the front court will the starting lineup be more fluid based on matchups or a consistent five.
“ For the most part we have four guys penciled in and we’ll figure out what to with the fifth.” pic.twitter.com/FbJPaKKILf
— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) October 2, 2025
Sheppard is the closest archetype to VanVleet, in terms of a traditional point guard with ball-handling abilities and 3-point shooting. Then again, Sheppard is also the least proven when it comes to providing consistent value as an NBA rotation player.
Eason offers the most defensive versatility, as a 6-foot-8 wing with the potential to switch and guard many positions. That could have immense value for a Houston squad that prides itself on playing elite defense.
Finally, Adams provides the benefits of size, rebounding, and physicality, as shown in Houston’s successful ‘double big’ lineups from late last season.
In the latter two scenarios, Thompson would take over as the official “point guard” and primary playmaker, which he did at times during VanVleet’s injury absences last season.
The first opportunity for an evaluation versus other teams comes in Monday’s home preseason opener against the Atlanta Hawks, with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Central from Toyota Center. The game will be televised regionally on Space City Home Network.