After a surprisingly fun 2023-24 campaign, Houston has its sights set on a postseason berth
One of the more surprising teams of 2023-24, the Houston Rockets were in the postseason race deep into the season. Houston spent a fair bit of cash last offseason, bringing in Fred VanVleet & Dillon Brooks, among others, but I can’t imagine they thought they’d find themselves in the postseason race to start April. The Rockets have a few questions lingering over them as we steamroll towards the regular season, but the franchise is in a great place heading into the future.
Houston Rockets (over/under 43.5 wins)
Additions: None
Drafted: Reed Sheppard (Kentucky)
Losses: Boban Marjanovic & Reggie Bullock
The Rockets will benefit from a summer that saw their core stay intact. The main transaction from the summer was a deal with the Nets to give them their own first round picks back to them in exchange for the Phoenix Suns’ first rounders. Beyond that, they picked third overall in the Draft and selected a very good player in Reed Sheppard. Sheppard was a sharpshooter at Kentucky, where he shot an outrageous 52.1% from 3 in his lone season. No one is going to expect him to shoot that well, but he is reportedly ready to step in right away. That’s a very good add for the Rockets, who could use some shooting to balance out their roster.
Steven Adams, who was acquired from the Memphis Grizzlies at last year’s trade deadline, is projected to be back and healthy this season. Adams is a pro’s pro and should be able to step in and provide leadership and quality play down low. While he’s not a new addition, him being healthy for the first time in a Rockets uniform is a big deal.
Outlook
The Rockets feel like a team that is waiting to pounce on a big trade. First and foremost, they have a lot of young talent that could use some consolidation. Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun both played their best basketball when the other was off the floor. The Rockets made their run last year with Sengun sidelined. You also have Cam Whitmore, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith and Tari Eason. That’s six guys who are all young and need the minutes to develop.
The deal that they made with Brooklyn, as referenced above, was trading in Brooklyn picks for Suns picks. Someone on the Suns who the Rockets have already been linked to in the past? Kevin Durant. Granted, if the Suns are good, the chances of that deal happening are zero. However, if they aren’t able to rebound, getting their own picks back in return might not be the worst option. Combining that with the young talent Houston has, the Rockets are positioned to be players in the trade market.
Prediction: Houston to participate in NBA Play-in Tournament (yes +125)
I’ll be blatantly honest here, Houston has me in a pretzel. I think they’ll improve off of last year, but with how tough the West is from teams 1-13, does that translate to 44 wins? While I think Houston is better than some of these teams down in this part of the West, trusting youth can be a rollercoaster. Instead of playing the win total, I’ll take some value on the play-in tournament. I don’t see a world where Houston is top 6 in the West, but I can be sold on this team making the postseason after being awfully close last year. Taking the play-in odds buys the team, but also gives you more outs in case the West beats up on itself enough to where 42 wins get you a 10 seed.
Odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook & are subject to change