COUNTDOWN TO LIFTOFF
How Houston Rockets' young core and new additions can fuel a playoff return
Oct 15, 2024, 11:22 am
The Rockets open the season against Charlotte.Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
Houston Rockets
Last season: 41-41.
COACH: Ime Udoka (Second season with Rockets, third season overall, 92-72).
SEASON OPENER: Oct. 25 vs. Charlotte.
DEPARTURES: C Boban Marjanovic, SF Reggie Bullock.
ADDITIONS: G Reed Sheppard, F Thon Maker.
BetMGM championship odds: 80-1.
What to expect
After making a 19-game improvement in the first season under Udoka, the Rockets have adopted a playoffs-or-bust mantra this season. They have reason to believe that could happen with a team that is virtually unchanged from last season. The additions of Dillon Brooks and Fred Van Vleet before last season added much-needed veteran experience and leadership to help Houston’s young players develop. Now recent high draft picks Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson must all take a step forward for the Rockets to reach the postseason for the first time since James Harden led the team in 2020.
Strengths and weaknesses
The good: The Rockets return their entire starting lineup from last season and should be improved in the second year together. Van Vleet and Brooks meshed immediately with their new teammates last season to help the Rockets get out the NBA’s basement and inch closer to a return to the postseason. Defense should again be a strength of the team after the Rockets ranked ninth on defense in their first season under Udoka. Center Alperen Sengun returns after making a big jump last season in his third year in the league. He led the team with career highs in both points (21.1) and rebounds (9.3) before an ankle injury cost him the last 19 games of the season.
The not-so-good: Green, the second overall pick in 2021, has shown flashes of greatness in his first three seasons but has mostly been known for his inconsistency. Entering the last year of his rookie deal, the 22-year-old must improve and become more of a leader on this team, or it could be his last year with the Rockets. Amen Thompson, taken fourth in the 2023 draft, had a lackluster rookie season where he missed 20 games with injuries to put him behind Houston’s other young stars. He’ll have to play catch up this year if he hopes to get significant playing time after the Rockets added Sheppard in this draft.
Players to watch
Many around the league are eager to see how Sheppard’s elite shooting in his one season at Kentucky will translate to the NBA. Though undersized, the Rockets believe that his 3-point shooting will be a major asset to this team as it tries to make another jump this season. Sheppard, selected third in the draft, shot 52.1% from 3-point range and made 83.1% of his free throws last season. The addition of his shooting and more consistent play from Green could be the recipe the Rockets need to make a playoff push.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
Astros offense flickered — and then the Rays took over
May 31, 2025, 7:02 pm
Yordan Alvarez’s hand injury is worse than it originally appeared.
The Houston slugger felt pain in his right hand on Friday while hitting and a small fracture that was previously believed to be a muscle strain was discovered. The fracture is about 60% healed.
General manager Dana Brown said he believes the fracture in Alvarez’s fourth metacarpal wasn’t discovered in initial imaging on May 6 because there was too much inflammation and fluid.
Alvarez has been out since May 3 with the injury. They had hoped he could come off the injured list this weekend.
“The immediate plan for him right now is to just let it rest,” Brown said. “And he’ll still continue to do other baseball activity like the running, he could probably go out in the outfield and catch. He can do everything else except for pick up a bat. And so, we don’t even want him hitting off tees even though he feels good enough to hit off a tee. Just let it heal completely and then you’ll be back.”
Since Friday’s imaging showed that the fracture was already more than halfway healed, Brown doesn’t believe it will keep him out too much longer.
“We’re hopeful that because he’s healed so much that ... he’ll be back sooner rather than later,” Brown said.
Alvarez was asked when he expects to return.
“I wish I had a magic ball to tell you,” he said in Spanish through a translator. “The good news is that it’s healing well, but I need rest because the fact that I was keeping on doing swings, it was taking it back, taking it (longer) to heal.”
Brown added that they think the fracture occurred when Alvarez tried to play through the initial muscle strain. Brown said he played for almost two weeks after initially noticing the problem before the first imaging was done.
“The muscle strain was real,” Brown said. “I really think that when he was fighting through those weeks knowing that it wasn’t the same feeling as some of his hand problems in the past ... maybe that’s when he may have caused a little bit more damage.”
Alvarez hit .210 with three home runs and 18 RBIs in 29 games this season before landing on the injured list.