It’s all about the next step for the Rockets this 2024-25 season.
And for this Rockets reboot that started four years ago, that next step is the postseason. The Rockets and their young nucleus of Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, and Jabari Smith made a push for the playoffs late last season but ultimately fell short and ended up back in the NBA Draft Lottery for the fourth straight summer.
But the flight plan this season has no margin for falling short.
“It’s got to be playoffs for us,” said veteran point guard Fred VanVleet, who was brought in prior to last season to help guide the Rockets young corp. “Our eyes have to set on that, set on advancing, not just making the playoffs, but advancing.”
That’s exactly the thought process throughout the organization after finishing last season 41-41 and missing the playoffs after a head-turning March that made the playoffs seem realistic.
The organization is so confident in this unit, which also features veterans Dillon Brooks and Jeff Green and youngsters such as Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore, and Tari Eason, that it made minimum additions this offseason.
The only true new addition is sharp-shooting rookie Reed Sheppard, whom the Rockets drafted No.3 overall. Veteran big man Steven Adams will suit up for the Rockets for the first time but he was actually acquired during a trade last season.
That’s just how much confidence the organization has in its nucleus despite playing in a Western Conference and Southwest Division that is still stacked.
“We looked at every opportunity, but no it was very conscious,” Rockets general manager Rafael Stone said to the Defender. “We felt like we saw good growth. With respect to our young players, we drafted them all, we liked them a lot when we drafted them and I think with all of them we like them better now.
“Yeah, we want to see where this group can go.”
That seems to be the sentiment around the team, as well. The feeling was that the Rockets were so close last season, a game or two here or there or even a possession or two stood in the way of the five games they came up short in their push for the postseason.
Now, the belief is in Year 2 of head coach Ime Udoka and the development of Green, Smith and Sengun into star players in the league, this season could finally signal the end of the rebuild and the beginning of the rebirth of the organization.
“I think it’s real important,” Smith said to the Defender in reference to having more continuity this season. “Some of these guys, all together I’ve been with for two years now, going into my third.
“We know what to expect out of each other. So, when we don’t see that we can hold each other accountable. I feel like that is so important,and I feel like we’ve got that. Off the court, on the court we love each other.”
The Rockets’ growth and chemistry got a kick-start this summer when Green invited the entire team to Los Angeles to not just work out together but to bond and further build that connection.
“Really just the chemistry and just building that to comradery, doing everything together, we had dinners together, we kicked it,” Green said. “We are going to go to war together, so we have to have that fellowship, too.”
ROCKETS AT A GLANCE
Head Coach: Ime Udoka
Key Returning Players: Jalen Green, Fred VanVleet, Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith, Dillon Brooks, Amen Thompson, and Jeff Green.
New Addition: Reed Shepard (Drafted No.3 overall out of Kentucky).
Top Scorers: Alperen Sengun (21.1 points), Jalen Green (19.6), Fred VanVleet (17.4), Jabari Smith (13.7) and Dillon Brooks (12.7).
Top Rebounders: Alperen Sengun (9.3) and Jabari Smith (8.1).
Last Season’s Record (Western Conference finish): 41-41 (11th place).
2024-205 Prediction: Finish 8th in the Western Conference and make playoffs.
