In new rankings completed after February’s in-season trade deadline for 2025-26, CBS Sports ranks the Houston Rockets as having the NBA’s third-best front office.
The only two teams ranked ahead of Houston are the previous two NBA champions: the Oklahoma City Thunder (No. 1) and Boston Celtics (No. 2).
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Relative to previous rankings issued in July, Sam Quinn moved Houston up from No. 4 to No. 3 and San Antonio down from No. 3 to No. 4.
“To be blunt, I don’t believe I weighed San Antonio’s lottery luck heavily enough in July,” Quinn writes. “If they win a championship in the near future, that will be the single biggest reason why. If Houston wins a championship in the near future, it will have less to do with luck.”
With the Rockets specifically, CBS credits Houston’s negotiating prowess under general manager Rafael Stone. Quinn writes:
The Rockets have ultimately been slightly bolder in charting their organizational course. They kickstarted the offensive rebounding revolution sweeping across the NBA this season. Alperen Sengun is, by a country mile, the best non-lottery pick either team has made, and in the long run, I suspect Tari Eason is better than any other non-lottery pick San Antonio has made as well.
Both Houston and San Antonio made blockbuster trades within the past year. Houston paid less for Kevin Durant than San Antonio did for De’Aaron Fox. Fox is a good deal younger than Durant, but it’s notable that Houston convinced Durant to take a pay cut whereas Fox insisted on the full max after forcing his way to the Spurs. Right now, he’s justifying it. It’s worth wondering if his speed-reliant style will age particularly well, and with two other young, star guards in the pipeline, the Spurs may one day wish they’d negotiated a bit harder with Fox.
The Rockets appear to be, by far, the NBA’s toughest negotiators. They got Sengun to take less than the max. Dorian Finney-Smith got only two guaranteed seasons from them. Clint Capela took a pay cut and a role reduction to come to Houston. Jabari Smith’s deal descends after the first year, making it a bit easier to trade if needed. This is a real point in Rafael Stone’s favor. His single best trait as an executive is how effectively he manages contracts.
Quinn does note some concerns with “alignment” in the organization, citing unsteady playing time for second-year guard Reed Sheppard in the aftermath of losing incumbent starter Fred VanVleet to a serious knee injury.
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“Figuring out what they have in Sheppard is important moving forward,” Quinn writes. “That means letting him play through some mistakes. If the front office wasn’t comfortable letting him do that, it likely would have added a guard to replace VanVleet. It didn’t, but Udoka is still a bit unsteady with his playing time. That situation will play out over time, but the Rockets have earned the benefit of the doubt here.”
At approximately two-thirds of the way through the 2025-26 regular season, Houston is currently 33-20 and at No. 4 in the Western Conference standings. Considering the serious injuries suffered by VanVleet and Steven Adams, that lofty placement speaks to the organizational depth that Stone has built since taking the GM job in October 2020.
CBS Sports’ complete NBA front office rankings can be read here.
More: Houston Rockets viewed as one of NBA trade deadline’s biggest losers
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This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: CBS Sports ranks Rockets as NBA’s third-best front office